[Proculation]

I could also have posted that in the international politics section since Obamanomics is quite the same as Europe's failing statism. It's an international view of politics that shows that a mixed economy and statism has met its end.

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/ ... amanomics/

$1:

As the U.S. debt crisis drags through next week and then spills over into next month and next year, one thing seems clear. These may well be the last days of Obamanomics and the general idea — adopted around the globe — that governments can tax and spend their way to prosperity via mass redistribution of income and wealth.

Earlier this week, President Obama rolled out one last sales pitch, a prime-time commercial for his bash-the-rich economic program. To control the deficit explosion he helped create, Mr. Obama called for a “balanced approach” that would cut some spending and raise taxes on the “millionaires and billionaires” who are not paying enough to maintain the expanded role he wants for government.

But in what appears to be a major political repudiation of Mr. Obama’s program, the final deficit reduction plan taking shape in Congress — limited though it may be — at least denies the President the tax increases he wanted. Also repudiated are the old guard of the Democratic party. Former Clinton treasury secretary Robert Rubin, writing in the Financial Times, called for “revenue increases” to help bring down the deficit. Remarkably, he also called for increased government “stimulus” to boost economic demand.

Right now, the political market for such policies, especially tax increases, is non-existent. Many Republicans and Democrats in Congress have left the President behind and are voting in favour of raising the debt ceiling, cutting spending, but holding the line on taxes.

It is fashionable today to attack Republican hard-liners and Tea Party activists for their extremism, their unreasonableness and the gross impracticality of their stubborn political wrangling.

On the other hand, the fiscal conservatives, by skillfully playing the Washington brinkmanship game, have scored a significant victory on the tax front. They have also established their anti-statist expansionism as the brick wall over which all politicians are going to have to climb-–not just through the balance of this year but on to the 2012 election and beyond.

When Democrats won’t back tax increases in the face of an alleged crisis, its a good sign the U.S. political landscape is shifting. Some kind of a turning point has been reached in what has been a multi-decade explosion in government spending and borrowing, mostly to transfer wealth to meet entitlement spending on health care.

The scale of the decades-long expansion in government transfers is large. Since 1970, payments to individuals as a percentage of U.S. government spending has jumped from 30% to 65%. Defence spending, during the same period, has dropped from 35% to 19% of total spending.

The discovery of the limits of statism is no American invention. Nor is it strictly an ideological movement. Across the developed world, the financial markets—which means investors and savers – are pushing for major fiscal reform. Foremost on the fiscal hit lists are the august members of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where scores of welfare-state nations face the same crisis of debt and spending.

The gross debt of the United States, at more than $14-trillion, is in the vicinity of 100% of GDP. International comparison’s are tricky, but similar ratios exist across the OECD: France 100%, Germany 87%, Italy 127%, Portugal 115%, Greece 130%, Canada 89%. The eurozone as a whole has gross debt of 96% of GDP; the total for all OECD nations is about 105%.

All that debt and spending was supposed to trigger economic recovery, but as the latest economic data show growth has been slow to materialize. Without general economic growth, government revenues will not increase to meet the new levels of spending and support the massive increases in debt. When interest rates rise, as they will, more cash will be needed to pay for the spending of the past.

For a decade or so it looked like the United States had found a way to beat the system. After years of running consistent deficits beginning in the 1970s, government spending fell as a share of GDP during the 1990s while revenues rose—a perfect world. But then growth faltered, revenues began to drop dramatically, while spending soared in part to fight the recession. The result is a fiscal calamity that is still playing out.

The U.S. federal government ran back-to-back deficits of $1.4-trillion in 2009, $1.3-trillion in 2010 and another trillion or so forecast for each of the next two years. Lesser but still substantial deficits are forecase for the next decade, no matter what deals are struck this weekend and in days to come.

Neither Congress nor President Obama, with their proposed debt-ceiling changes and spending cuts, begin to deal with the coming fiscal squeeze. But they are reasonable no-tax starting points to what will be an ongoing and epic economic and ideological battle.

[CommanderSock]

Yes, wouldn't it have been nice if the same had happened to Reaganomics too. Would've saved us a bit of trouble down the line.

[sandorski]

WTF is this shit? Crap article is crap.

[Proculation]

CommanderSock CommanderSock:

Yes, wouldn't it have been nice if the same had happened to Reaganomics too. Would've saved us a bit of trouble down the line.

It just shows that statism advocating by Obama is damned to fail, like in Europe. Fortunately, the USA still have the tools to revert to a more sound economics while Europe is in it up to the neck.

[Thanos]

Post a single bit of evidence that a harsh and viciously cruel austerity budget, squarely aimed at social programs whose loss would devastate the poor, the elderly, and huge swathes of the middle class, has ever been a success anywhere. Prove it and maybe I'll buy into that piece of slanderous anti-Obama crap that you started this thread with.

George W. Bush took $3 trillion out of reveunes with his fucking insane tax cuts that benefitted only the top 20% of the country. At the same he lauched two wars that've cost over $2 trillion already, and unwisely added another $340 billion loss on Medicare Part D in an expansion that wasn't even needed. On top of it, and probably worst of all, he told practically every single regulator or enforcement agency to look the other way while his friends and political backers on Wall Street and at companies like Enron schemed and stole everything that they could get their filthy criminal fingers on.

That's exactly where the blame for this economic disaster lies, at the feet of George Bush and every single one of the corporate-owned Congressional lickspittles in the Republican Party who voted like their millionaire and billionaire country-club masters told them to. Enough of the anti-Obama nonsense already. It doesn't stand up to the slightest bit of examination and doesn't convince anyone at all who's outside of the fucktards in the TeaParty.

[Proculation]

I'm not 'for' or 'against' Obama and/or the Tea Party. Both are wrong in my views. That's politics. I'm just looking at the fundamentals: USA is a country based on individualism, freedom and capitalism. That's the essence of the USA. The constitution doesn't begin with "We, the State" but "We, the People". The USA is NOT social-democrat. That's what made them the country they are (was ?).

[CommanderSock]

Thanos Thanos:

Post a single bit of evidence that a harsh and viciously cruel austerity budget, squarely aimed at social programs whose loss would devastate the poor, the elderly, and huge swathes of the middle class, has ever been a success anywhere. Prove it and maybe I'll buy into that piece of slanderous anti-Obama crap that you started this thread with.

George W. Bush took $3 trillion out of reveunes with his fucking insane tax cuts that benefitted only the top 20% of the country. At the same he lauched two wars that've cost over $2 trillion already, and unwisely added another $340 billion loss on Medicare Part D in an expansion that wasn't even needed. On top of it, and probably worst of all, he told practically every single regulator or enforcement agency to look the other way while his friends and political backers on Wall Street and at companies like Enron schemed and stole everything that they could get their filthy criminal fingers on.

That's exactly where the blame for this economic disaster lies, at the feet of George Bush and every single one of the corporate-owned Congressional lickspittles in the Republican Party who voted like their millionaire and billionaire country-club masters told them to. Enough of the anti-Obama nonsense already. It doesn't stand up to the slightest bit of examination and doesn't convince anyone at all who's outside of the fucktards in the TeaParty.

Good point, the economist had a great article on austerity, and how it has only worked once in human history, and that was during Denmark's budget slashing spree of the 80s. Of course Denmark's economy was growing at 5% annually and still had room to grow.

[Proculation]

It's not about 'austerity'. It's about having a sound economy with limited state intervention. The term austerity here only means to revert back to an economy based on the free enterprise, not the state.

[herbie]

What your economy needs is a big double dose of foul tasting GST. Like 10% for the first two years.
And then a fucking realistic gas tax. Like over $1 a gallon.
Then to all STFU and sit in the corner and deal with it. Once you do that, your economy will be in far better shape.

Germany Germany:

Ve regain our country unt absorb all zose deadweight commies and 20 years later ve tell ze whole EU vat to do? Who's ze big FAIL?

[Proculation]

herbie herbie:

What your economy needs is a big double dose of foul tasting GST. Like 10% for the first two years.
And then a fucking realistic gas tax. Like over $1 a gallon.
Then to all STFU and sit in the corner and deal with it. Once you do that, your economy will be in far better shape.

Germany Germany:

Ve regain our country unt absorb all zose deadweight commies and 20 years later ve tell ze whole EU vat to do? Who's ze big FAIL?

So, basically, more stealing ?

[sandorski]

Proculation Proculation:

herbie herbie:

What your economy needs is a big double dose of foul tasting GST. Like 10% for the first two years.
And then a fucking realistic gas tax. Like over $1 a gallon.
Then to all STFU and sit in the corner and deal with it. Once you do that, your economy will be in far better shape.

Germany Germany:

Ve regain our country unt absorb all zose deadweight commies and 20 years later ve tell ze whole EU vat to do? Who's ze big FAIL?

So, basically, more stealing ?

Fail.