But it's an effect that is completely irrelevant to our current situation. When the economy is booming, and lack of sufficient willing workers is limiting growth, generous unemployment benefits may keep employment lower than it would have been otherwise. But as you may have noticed, right now the economy isn't booming again, there are five unemployed workers for every job opening. Cutting off benefits to the unemployed will make them even more desperate for work but they can't take jobs that aren't there Quelle: The New York Times
The WSJ's economics blog has an interesting piece about how failing to extend unemployment benefits may actually end up increasing the deficit in the longer run, by pushing marginal older workers into disability. But this is actually a much broader point. There's a quite good case to be made that austerity in the face of a depressed economy is, literally, a false economy that it actually makes long-run budget problems worse.
Quelle: The New York Times
Jetzt warten wir auf ähnliche Erkenntnisse in Deutschland.
Regarding worries about the current deficit, Krugman's far more concerned about boosting America's sagging economy by helping the unemployed. Here's Krugman:
"If you give money to someone who's well off they're probably going to save a lot of it because they're not living hand-to-mouth. If you give money to someone who is on the edge, who has been unemployed for 30 weeks, who is desperate than they are going to spend it right away. The government doesn't have to spend it, the government just has to provide it to people. And [unemployment] is a very fast, very effective way of creating jobs when you're in this crisis."
Krugman, a vocal opponent of cutting spending during a downturn, joked that during a recent trip to Germany he felt he was "a little bit lucky not to get arrested by the austerity police."
Quelle: Huffington Post
Das Interview bei Stephen Colbert:
Quelle: ColbertNation.com
Anmerkung RS: Stephen Colbert ist ein Kabarettist vom Schlage Erwin Pelzigs. Sein größter Coup war eine Spottrede beim Presse-Dinner im Weißen Haus 2006, wo er über George W. Bush und das sonstige Politbetrieb in Washington herzog.
In diesem Interview mit Krugman geht es um Arbeitslosigkeit und Sparmaßnahmen. Am Rande ein Seitenhieb auf die Reaktion nach seiner Kritik an der deutschen Sparpolitik währen seiner Deutschlandreise: "Ich schätze mich glücklich, dass ich nicht von der Sparpolizei verhaftet wurde".
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