Never more relevant than this precise moment, the Ten Commandments for Fiscal Adjustment (in advanced Economies) have been proverbially carved into a semi-official tablet by IMF Director of Research, Dr Olivier Blanchard, And they are good, wise and just. Sufficiently so that the general polity should take careful note, else the Austerians, the facile macro-vigilantism of the electronic punting herd, or the GlenRonPaulBeck's of the world gain sufficient traction to insure that a new-normal arrives amidst sufficiently grandiose [and probably unnecessary] dislocation.
Do pass it on to your nearest legislator, elected representative, candidate of choice, beneficiary of fiscal promises or privilege now-untenable, or so-called fat-cat who has benefitted asymmetrically from the previous fiscal regime in the US (and UK +Japan too) that rather obviously low-balled the revenue side of the National Income Statement for nearly a decade, or uber-protectionist. The abyss beneath the inflation/deflation ridge-line we are collectively navigating is just that - an abyss. And such a good map, followed carefully, is the type of sensible guide that might just prevent the type catastrophic tumble looming in its absence.
Cassandra,
ReplyDeleteCome now the Keynesians and Monetarists of the IMF, Chicago, MIT, etc are as bad as Glenn Beck. Look at Blanchard. He dresses up his writing with words like "equity" and "fairness", and then proceeds to talk about balancing sovereign budgets on the back of the middle class through regressive measures, like consumption taxes, cuts to health and retirement benefits, and the like.
I'll believe people are ready to address fiscal imbalances through compromise, when the wealthy adopt Joe Kennedy's famous comment about how he'd rather give up half his fortune to taxes than have it all taken.
It is laughable to think one can sell shared sacrifice, using programs that are ripe for abuse by financial promoters (e.g., cap and trade) and that are regressive.