Robert Reich: 'Austerity Is a Terrible Mistake'

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/robert-reich-austerity-terrible-mistake

verdict on the prospect of yet more austerity is unequivocal. "The austerity narrative is nonsense – and its dangerous nonsense. It's sort of the Vietnamisation of the economy – [that] you're saving the economy by killing it."

The political economist who has served in three US administrations, most recently as labour secretary under former president Bill Clinton, is a longstanding vocal opponent of the kind of neo-liberal economics that have influenced policy in the US and the UK since the early 1980s and fostered soaring levels of inequality and entrenched poverty. He dismisses as "nonsense" the notion that if the rich get richer wealth will "trickle down" to the wider population.

Reich, 67, argues that the human costs of sweeping cuts to unemployment benefits and to food stamps in the US and to social security in the UK needs to be highlighted urgently and in tandem with any discussion of the policy's economic futility. "With austerity you have only to think for half a moment about the economic reality," he says. "The issue is not the deficit per se. The issue in all our countries is the ratio of the deficit to GDP – to the entire economy. And if you embrace austerity and thereby reduce economic growth you actually end up potentially in a worse place than you started, with a higher ratio of public debt to GDP. At the same time you are generating huge amounts of human suffering unnecessarily. It takes a huge toll on individuals, on families and on communities."

With no sign of austerity abating, the veteran campaigner warns against heeding declarations from politicians on the right, such as the chancellor, George Osborne in Wednesday's budget, as they boast of recovery and insist that the upturn in the UK's economy means the austerity medicine is working and more cuts are necessary. Rather, he stresses, the post-crash recovery has been "the most anaemic recovery from a deep recession on record", pointing out too that "95% of the economic gains since the recovery began in 2009 [in the US] have gone to the top 1%", and that continuing to slash public expenditure is plain wrong.

[marmar]

1. k/r

[sakabatou]

2. Yep, more austerity would kill us

[pipoman]

3. If Reich really wanted to make up for

his history of being a traitor to labor, and selling out to big corporate interests, he would be a vocal opponent to the TPP. But alas, he is too busy pointing his stubby fingers at everyone but himself to take a position of opposition to the policies that he has championed, and his multinational friends continue to push. No, Bob is part of the problem.

[ctsnowman]

10. Here's his FB on TPP

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/736965702982695

I agree about his past but he seems to oppose TPP.

[Blanks]

12. How is it that you feel that he is 'selling out'?

He has consistently advocated for the working class. He left his post as labor secretary under Clinton because he wasn't making a difference despite his efforts.

At least that's what he claims in his documentary (inequality for all). I've never seen him take a position that wasn't pro-labor or pro-working class.

[djean111]

4. That's what the Crimeans think, too. So they chose to avoid it.

No matter what we say, the IMF is cheerfully looking to impose austerity anywhere it can.
Here, the Ukraine, anywhere, by any means, whether an official IMF package, or purchased politicians.

[TBF]

5. Trickle down doesn't work -

we can say it a million different ways but the billionaires are not listening. Hopefully at least the masses of non-billionaires out there will listen and think about fighting back.

[dotymed]

6. Every single one of our "leaders"

know this.
As does every bankster/ elitist. That is why they are paying the politicians to implement these destructive policies.

It vastly enriches them and their owned politicians.

Revolution.

[magical thyme]

7. disagree. it is terrible, but it is no mistake.

[SHRED]

8. And especially now considering interest rates

[MannyGoldstein]

9. I call bull#%^*. It's working fine.

We're doing better than ever.

Sincerely yours,

The 1%

[xchrom]

11. !