Economy

Austerity In Europe Has Failed

Via Balloon Juice, it appears as if "sitting around the dinner table and tightening various belts" isn't working out so well in Germany and the UK:

With its modest stimulus winding down, Germany’s growth slowed sharply late last year, and its economic output still has not recovered to its prerecession peak. Output in the United States — where the stimulus program has been bigger and longer lasting — has recovered. This country would now need to suffer through a double-dip recession for its gross domestic product to be in the same condition as Germany’s.[...]

“It’s really quite striking how well the U.S. is performing relative to the U.K., which is tightening aggressively,” says Ian Shepherdson, a Britain-based economist for the research firm High Frequency Economics, “and relative to Germany, which is tightening more modestly.” Mr. Shepherdson adds that he generally opposes stimulus programs for a normal recession but that they are crucial after a crisis.

And yet you can rest assured knowing that nothing will change here. The very serious Republicans will continue their slash and burn budget cuts -- starving the beast and risking similar economic fallout from their ridiculously ill-conceived austerity measures.