thenatureofmind

Davos Still Pushes Failed Global Vision

Austerity plan is failing, IMF tells Osborne

The message to George Osborne from the International Monetary Fund could scarcely have been clearer. It's time to think about a plan B.

Coming as it did on the eve of the fourth quarter growth figures, the intervention of the fund's chief economist Olivier Blanchard, was particularly ill-timed for the chancellor, but it was hardly a surprise.

The IMF has never been wildly enthusiastic about Osborne's tough austerity plan for the British economy and has been saying for at least a year that the Treasury should ease off if recovery falters. But up until now it has tended to avoid telling Osborne that his policy is failing.

Austerity plan is failing, IMF tells Osborne

Six Economic Steps to a Better Life and Real Prosperity for All

We've got to break out of the old ways of thinking about the economy.

Most activists tend to approach progressive change from one of two perspectives: First, there’s the “reform” tradition that assumes corporate control is a constant and that “politics” acts to modify practices within that constraint. Liberalism in the United States is representative of this tradition. Then there’s the “revolutionary” tradition, which assumes change can come about only if the major institutions are largely eliminated or transcended, often by violence.

Six Economic Steps to a Better Life and Real Prosperity for All.

The CEO's don't have enough money. They want yours too!

Top corporate chieftains and Wall Street gamblers want to tell Washington how to fix our national debt, so they've created a front group called "Fix the Debt" to push their agenda. Unfortunately, they're using "fix" in the same way your veterinarian uses it — their core demand is for Washington to spay Social Security, castrate Medicare and geld Medicaid.

Who's Behind “Fix the Debt”?

Krugman and Obama's Dangerous Austerity Myths

The Fiscal Cliff Deal and the Damage Done

Ordinarily we call a deal in which neither side gets what it wants a victory for democracy. Shared sacrifice produces moderation and probity. But any process in which the Speaker of the House tells the Senate Majority Leader “Go f-‍-‍- yourself,” as John Boehner instructed Harry Reid at the height of fiscal cliff madness, deserves just a bit of examination.

The Jan. 1 deal, which Wall Street cheered, moderates tax increases and spending cuts that would have amounted to more than $600 billion in 2013. It’s worth noting, though, that the fiscal cliff was the mooncalf monster-child of Congress itself. The automatic spending cuts (“sequester”) were invented by an act of Congress a mere 17 months ago after the 2011 debt ceiling showdown. To praise this new deal as an accomplishment is to praise an arsonist for extinguishing his own fire.

The Fiscal Cliff Deal and the Damage Done

The IMF Admits It Was Wrong About Keynesianism

In an important new study, Olivier Blanchard, the Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has just admitted that having respected and accepted the advice of conservative economists has turned out to be a blunder.

This has cost the world’s advanced economies dearly, and must be reversed if the world is to avoid an economic tailspin.

The IMF Admits It Was Wrong About Keynesianism 

Paul Krugman: Be Ready To Mint That Coin

Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely. He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that’s silly but benign, the other that’s equally silly but both vile and disastrous. The decision should be obvious.

Be Ready To Mint That Coin

China to pass US as top economic superpower by 2016

America’s days of economic dominance aren’t over just yet, but one international thinktank says it might come sooner than once thought. According to one group, China will have the biggest world economy by 2016.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) out of Paris writes in a new report that China will be the world’s leading nation in terms of economy in just four years’ time, with other BRICs nations likely to usurp the current top dogs during the next few decades as well.

China to pass US as top economic superpower by 2016

Business Insider: Trillion dollar coin: How it could save the U.S. economy

The hottest idea to save the economy from another debt ceiling fight (and a potential default) is the Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin.

In order to understand how it works, we first need a very quick lesson in how the government spends money.

Business Insider: Trillion dollar coin: How it could save the U.S. economy