Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Why austerity now?

Michael Hudson at New Economic Perspectives points us to the difference between the overall economy and the financial sector: When politicians let the financial sector run the show, their natural preference is to turn the economy into a grab bag. And they usually come out ahead. That’s what the words “foreclosure,” “forfeiture” and “liquidate” mean […]

G-20 communique abandoning stimulus in about face

The Financial Times points us to the G-20 communique abandoning stimulus because “they recognize financial market concerns”: Finance ministers from the world’s leading economies ripped up their support for fiscal stimulus on Saturday, recognising that financial market concerns over sovereign debt had forced a much greater focus on deficit reduction. The meeting of the Group […]