{"id":25040,"date":"2013-02-01T15:06:24","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T14:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/view\/2013\/02\/01-5"},"modified":"2013-02-01T15:06:24","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T14:06:24","slug":"looking-for-mister-goodpain-the-hopelss-search-for-an-austerity-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/looking-for-mister-goodpain-the-hopelss-search-for-an-austerity-success-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for Mister Goodpain: The Hopelss Search for an Austerity Success Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Three years ago, a terrible thing happened to economic policy, both here and in Europe. Although the worst of the financial crisis was over, economies on both sides of the Atlantic remained deeply depressed, with very high unemployment. Yet the Western world\u2019s policy elite somehow decided en masse that unemployment was no longer a crucial concern, and that reducing budget deficits should be the overriding priority.\"\"European workers and trade union representatives take part in the ”No to austerity” protest in Brussels September 29, 2010. Despite looking bravely, Krugman finds no credible example of where austerity measures have delivered on what proponents promise. (Credit: Reuters\/Thierry Roge)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In recent columns, I\u2019ve argued that worries about the deficit are, in fact, greatly exaggerated \u2013 and have documented the increasingly desperate efforts of the deficit scolds to keep fear alive. Today, however, I\u2019d like to talk about a different but related kind of desperation: the frantic effort to find some example, somewhere, of austerity policies that succeeded. For the advocates of fiscal austerity \u2013 the austerians \u2013 made promises as well as threats: austerity, they claimed, would both avert crisis and lead to prosperity.<\/p>\n

And let nobody accuse the austerians of lacking a sense of romance; in fact, they\u2019ve spent years looking for Mr. Goodpain.<\/p>\n

The search began with a passionate fling between the austerians and the Republic of Ireland, which turned to harsh spending cuts soon after its real estate bubble burst, and which for a while was held up as the ultimate exemplar of economic virtue. Ireland, said Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank<\/a>, was the role model for all of Europe\u2019s debtor nations. American conservatives went even further. For example, Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, declared that Ireland\u2019s policies<\/a> showed the way forward for the United States, too.<\/p>\n

Read the full story at the New York Times<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2012 The New York Times<\/p>\n

\n
\"Paul<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Paul Krugman is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and a regular columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is the author of numerous books, including The Conscience of A Liberal<\/a>, The Return of Depression Economics<\/a>, and his most recent, End This Depression Now!<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n

Three years ago, a terrible thing happened to economic policy, both here and in Europe. Although the worst of the financial crisis was over, economies on both sides of the Atlantic remained deeply depressed, with very high unemployment. Yet the Western world’s policy elite somehow decided en masse that unemployment was no longer a crucial concern, and that reducing budget deficits should be the overriding priority.\"\"European workers and trade union representatives take part in the ”No to austerity” protest in Brussels September 29, 2010. Despite looking bravely, Krugman finds no credible example of where austerity measures have delivered on what proponents promise. (Credit: Reuters\/Thierry Roge)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In recent columns, I’ve argued that worries about the deficit are, in fact, greatly exaggerated — and have documented the increasingly desperate efforts of the deficit scolds to keep fear alive. Today, however, I’d like to talk about a different but related kind of desperation: the frantic effort to find some example, somewhere, of austerity policies that succeeded. For the advocates of fiscal austerity — the austerians — made promises as well as threats: austerity, they claimed, would both avert crisis and lead to prosperity.<\/p>\n

And let nobody accuse the austerians of lacking a sense of romance; in fact, they’ve spent years looking for Mr. Goodpain.<\/p>\n

The search began with a passionate fling between the austerians and the Republic of Ireland, which turned to harsh spending cuts soon after its real estate bubble burst, and which for a while was held up as the ultimate exemplar of economic virtue. Ireland, said Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank<\/a>, was the role model for all of Europe’s debtor nations. American conservatives went even further. For example, Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, declared that Ireland’s policies<\/a> showed the way forward for the United States, too.<\/p>\n

Read the full story at the New York Times<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

© 2012 The New York Times<\/p>\n

\n
\"Paul<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Paul Krugman is professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and a regular columnist for The New York Times. Krugman was the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is the author of numerous books, including The Conscience of A Liberal<\/a>, The Return of Depression Economics<\/a>, and his most recent, End This Depression Now!<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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