Are we finally in a recovery? Who's "we," kemosabe? Big global companies, Wall Street, and high-income Americans who hold their savings in financial instruments are clearly doing better. As to the rest of us - small businesses along Main Streets, and middle and lower-income Americans - forget it ... Robert Reich, The Sham Recovery, 3-12-10
Deficits to finance wars or giveaways to the financial sector (as happened on a massive scale in the U.S.) lead to liabilities without corresponding assets, imposing a burden on future generations. But high-return public investments that more than pay for themselves can actually improve the well-being of future generations, and it would be doubly foolish to burden them with debts from unproductive spending and then cut back on productive investments. Joseph Stiglitz, Dangers of Deficit Reduction, 3-7-10
So what’s the reality of the proposed reform? Compared with the Platonic ideal of reform, Obamacare comes up short. If the votes were there, I would much prefer to see Medicare for all. For a real piece of passable legislation, however, it looks very good ... This is a reasonable, responsible plan. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Paul Krugman, Health Reform Myths, 3-11-10
Three Inconvenient Truths from Three Leading Economists Who Have Earned Respect as Dissidents; If We Ignore Them, We Do So At Our Collective Peril
By Richard Power
In recent days, Robert Reich, Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, two Nobel Prize winners and a former Secretary of Labor, have all written important opinion pieces in which they articulate inconvenient truths, and challenge ascending memes, as well as the ideological groupings peddling these memes.
Reich challenges the Wall Street world-view of Barack Obama's economic captains (Geithner and Summers), Stiglitz challenges the Deficit Hawk posturing of the Blue Dogs, and Krugman challenges those on the Left and the Right who blindly denounce the health care reform legislation which may well become law this week.
During the Bush-Cheney regime, these three citizens earned enduring respect as outspoken dissidents, and they have only added to their credibility over this last year by forthrightly offering constructive criticism of the Obama administration.
If we ignore them now, we do so at our collective peril.
Words of Power offers, if nothing else, an ongoing chronology of courage and clarity of mind.
Here are excerpts from the three op-ed pieces, with links to the full texts:
Are we finally in a recovery? Who's "we," kemosabe? Big global companies, Wall Street, and high-income Americans who hold their savings in financial instruments are clearly doing better. As to the rest of us - small businesses along Main Streets, and middle and lower-income Americans - forget it ...
Part of the perceived growth in GDP is due to rising government expenditures. But this is smoke and mirrors. The stimulus is reaching its peak and will be smaller in months to come. And a bigger federal debt eventually has to be repaid.
So when you hear some economists say the current recovery is following the traditional path, don't believe a word. The path itself is being used to construct the GDP data. Robert Reich, The Sham Recovery, 3-12-10
A wave of fiscal austerity is rushing over Europe and America. The magnitude of budget deficits -- like the magnitude of the downturn -- has taken many by surprise. But despite protests by yesterday's proponents of deregulation, who would like the government to remain passive, most economists believe that government spending has made a difference, helping to avert another Great Depression ...
Over the longer term, most economists agree that governments, especially in advanced industrial countries with aging populations, should be concerned about the sustainability of their policies. But we must be wary of deficit fetishism. Deficits to finance wars or giveaways to the financial sector (as happened on a massive scale in the U.S.) lead to liabilities without corresponding assets, imposing a burden on future generations. But high-return public investments that more than pay for themselves can actually improve the well-being of future generations, and it would be doubly foolish to burden them with debts from unproductive spending and then cut back on productive investments.
These are questions for a later day -- at least in many countries, prospects of a robust recovery are, at best, a year or two away. For now, the economics is clear: Reducing government spending is a risk not worth taking. Joseph Stiglitz, Dangers of Deficit Reduction, 3-7-10
The first of these myths, which has been all over the airwaves lately, is the claim that President Obama is proposing a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy, the share of G.D.P. currently spent on health ...
The second myth is that the proposed reform does nothing to control costs ...
Which brings me to the third myth: that health reform is fiscally irresponsible ...
So what’s the reality of the proposed reform? Compared with the Platonic ideal of reform, Obamacare comes up short. If the votes were there, I would much prefer to see Medicare for all.
For a real piece of passable legislation, however, it looks very good. It wouldn’t transform our health care system; in fact, Americans whose jobs come with health coverage would see little effect. But it would make a huge difference to the less fortunate among us, even as it would do more to control costs than anything we’ve done before.
This is a reasonable, responsible plan. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Paul Krugman, Health Reform Myths, 3-11-10
Support Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and his six bills to Save Democracy.
Stand with Howard Dean on the struggle to deliver meaningful healthcare reform.
For an archive of Words of Power posts on Economic Insecurity, click here.
Richard Power's True North on the Pathless Path: Toward 21st Century Spirituality is available from Amazon.com
Richard Power's Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available from Lulu.com.
Paul Krugman, Healthcae, Joseph Stiglitz, Robert Reich,
