Transcript The Near-Term Prospects for the Economy

The Dangers of Austerity
in Europe and the U.S.
Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Austerity
&
GDP Growth
Austerity
&
Jobs
Myth: The US is just a bystander in
Europe’s austerity
Truth: We have power at the IMF.
• Unlike Greece, the U.S. “debt crisis” is manufactured
• Short term deficit is due to recession – revenues fall and
spending increases – and weak recovery
• Long term deficit is due to health care spending (driven by
private sector health care costs
• Real crisis is 25 million unemployed, involuntarily working
part-time, or dropped out of labor force
• U.S. needs further stimulus, job sharing, and other measures
to get unemployment back to normal levels; health care
reform to eliminate long term deficit