Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

(from DownWithTyranny!)

This one chart tells you much of what you need to know about the fiscal side of the US economy: we’re dealing with a recession/depression Herbert Hoover style — by cutting government spending just when we would have needed a strong counter-cyclical push from government.

What’s good about this chart, lifted from Krugman, is that it aggregates federal, state, and local spending; everyone’s cutting.

Something to consider as you look at the ugly budget deal coming out of Congress — the one that doesn’t extend unemployment benefits and, as far as I can tell, doesn’t fix the recent vicious cuts to food stamps either. (Please correct me if I’m wrong about that.)