There is an ongoing debate among global policymakers about when and how fast to exit from the strong monetary and fiscal stimulus that prevented the Great Recession of 2008-2009 from turning into a new Great Depression. Germany and the European Central Bank are pushing aggressively for early fiscal austerity; the United States is worried about the risks of excessively early fiscal consolidation. Words: 957
The market basically doesn’t want a recovery right now. It loves high unemployment and a bad economy because it allows the Fed to keep rates at zero which is highly profitable for Wall St via the games that I described above. Of course our crippled economy is an absolute nightmare for the rest of us as we lose our jobs and our homes as Rome continues to burn. Words: 1248
Looking forward, our formula for working out of the current deficit pattern would be to have the Republicans regain control of one house of Congress (but not both houses of Congress plus the White House). The economy fully recovers. I’m not ready to forecast surpluses to come, but I can envision the deficits coming down to reasonable magnitudes. Words: 1438
The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax and a carbon or other energy-related tax may become necessary says White House adviser Paul Volcker. Words: 758
The December jobs report (unemployment rate of 10%) has doused the hope that we were at the beginning of a sustained economic recovery. Unemployment, in short, has graduated from being a difficulty, a worry, to a catastrophe, with some 15.3 million Americans out of work. Words: 1098
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