Joseph E. Stiglitz writes The politics of economic stupidity:
The near-global stagnation witnessed in 2014 is man-made. It is the result of politics and policies in several major economies—politics and policies that choked off demand. In the absence of demand, investment and jobs will fail to materialize. It is that simple.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the euro zone, which has officially adopted a policy of austerity—cuts in government spending that augment weaknesses in private spending.
The euro zone’s structure is partly to blame for impeding adjustment to the shock generated by the crisis; in the absence of a banking union, it was no surprise that money fled the hardest-hit countries, weakening their financial systems and constraining lending and investment.
In Japan, one of the three “arrows” of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s programme for economic revival was launched in the wrong direction. The fall in gross domestic product that followed the increase in the consumption tax in April provided further evidence in support of Keynesian economics—as if there was not enough already.
The US introduced the smallest dose of austerity, and it has enjoyed the best economic performance. But even in the US, there are roughly 650,000 fewer public-sector employees than there were before the crisis; normally, we would have expected some two million more.
As a result, the US, too, is suffering, with growth so anaemic that wages remain basically stagnant.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2005—House GOP abandons ethics:
The GOP garnered control of the House in large part by running against corrupt Democrats. As part of their reforms, Gingrich implemented a series of ethical guidelines.
Now, entrenched, fat, and corrupt, the House GOP is moving to eliminate ethical guidelines:
The proposal being circulated among House Republicans would end a general rule against any behavior that might bring "discredit" on the chamber, according to House Republican and Democratic leadership aides. House members would be held to a narrower standard of behavior in keeping with the law, the House's rules and its ethics guidelines.
Other proposed changes to the ethics committee's rules being circulated in a "Dear Colleague" letter from House Rules Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., would let House members respond to any admonishment before a letter goes out from the committee, and would end an investigation if there is a tie vote.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., plans to bring the proposal before a meeting of all House Republicans next week "and see what they think," said Hastert spokesman John Feehery.
|
Tweet of the Day
Raisins pretending to be chocolate chips take all the joy out of cookies.
— @FrancesMFDanger
On
today's "encore performance" Kagro in the Morning show, the first show of 2014!
Greg Dworkin rounded up ACA news, including "As Obamacare Sign-Ups Surge, So Does Conservative Rage," and comment on the OHIE study from
The Incidental Economist. Also discussed: De Blasio inauguration coverage, the snowstorm, and Ezra Klein's maybe-sorta plan to start planning something & why the
NYT is so interested. Next, NSA stories, from Ruth Marcus to Michael Dearing to Julian Sanchez. Lastly, the Japanese Mob hires the homeless to clean up Fukushima, and US Navy sailors in the region have radiation sickness. Only KITM would try to tie THAT together!
High Impact Posts. Top Comments