In prepping materials for testimony next week, I put together some familiar pictures of the non-spending spree that has occurred under the Obama administration so far, contrary to the pervasive conservative meme. Just outlays from 2008 to 2013, adjusted for population and inflation. Also, I review of the full panoply of spending cuts (77%) and revenues (23%) from the fiscal deals over the past few years. The points are a) we are so not Greece, and b) here, my friends, are the fiscal headwinds generators: over at the NYT Economix blog.
From the end opposite the head?
Somewhat OT, but a great resource, so here goes:
http://www.chartbookofeconomicinequality.com/wp-content/uploads/countrycharts/USA/USA_Chartbook.html
If you pull your cursor over specific data points on the graph, you’ll see a text box pop up with accurate data specifics for each dot on the graph. IMVHO, relevant to this post, the GINI coefficient starts up after 1980 (Reagan Tax Cut Fetishes and Deficit Hysteria), and correlate strikingly with the ‘Earnings at top decile as % median”. It had been fairly level for the previous three+ decades.
(From a link at the INETEconomics site.)
We are not Greece. But could we be Argentina (2001), Argentina(2014), Puerto Rico, Detroit, Japan, Mexico (1994), Zimbabwe, Germany (1923), France (1720), Venezuela, Peru (1989).
We are told we can borrow and spend more. But I an unaware of an economic model that can predict when “more” changes to “too much”.