New IMF study suggests that austerity will damage the recovery

[Narmer]

They are saying to wait until the economy is better. Don't you work for the government? Kinda weak to say you will take the short term damage when your job is 100% safe.

Keynesian economic theory works when you reduce government spending during boom times. Unfortunately politicians love to use Keynesian economics during recessions, and not during the growth times. At this point I'm tempted to say I'd rather not have to resort to Keynesian economics at all knowing the political process in a Robin Hood democracy.

Good. I can live with short term damages if it benefits the economy in the long term. We fucked up. I doubt, should the economy start booming again, that we will ever raise taxes to capture that extra revenue.

JS80 said better what I bolded. Also, I don't work for government.

 

[PingSpike]

We aren't getting off the train until it crashes.
Politician: I'm going to spend us into to debt to get us out of the recession!
Voters: Yeah! Save us!
Politician: We're out of the recession, time to pay off our debt.
Voters: Fuck off! Where is the other politician?

 

[CycloWizard]

Does the IMF have a decent track record? I'm wondering why I should trust anything they say, regardless of whether or not I agree with them.

Because they used a linear model to predict what will happen in something as complex as a nation's economy. It's a start, but it's hardly something an engineer would hang his hat on, let alone bet his farm on.

 

[sandorski]

We aren't getting off the train until it crashes.
Politician: I'm going to spend us into to debt to get us out of the recession!
Voters: Yeah! Save us!
Politician: We're out of the recession, time to pay off our debt.
Voters: Fuck off! Where is the other politician?

hehe, too true.