Last Night's Republican Debate

12 Oct 2011

Posted by Andrew Samwick

Other words that weren't mentioned, even for their economic impact: Iraq, Afghanistan, education.

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I'm not as optimistic as Mr. Sununu.

If the supercommittee does anything to invigorate the deficit discussion among Republicans, it won't do so in a good way. The polls are very clear that when it comes to "entitlements" and the "social safety net" most folks are inclined not to fiddle around with them.

I'm unconvinced that government is as unpopular with the people as Republicans seem to think it is. And if the supercommittee begins to enumerate actual cuts to actual programs, it will become very clear that the services they provide will either shift to state and local governments--at a time they can least afford it--or to individuals, the vast majority of whom have not seen incomes rise in nearly a decade.

And when you run a platform on encouraging private sector solutions over government solutions to all our cares and woes...you better hope that the private sector doesn't fail. Things don't look too good in that respect, either.

Posted by Unconvinced on Oct 12th, 2011 at 3:27 pm.

Go you Andrew and Stan

Andrew -

EXCELLENT point there about the word count: Zero. and you also agreed with Stan re the Super Committee and likelihood of anything actually being done. I'm not even sure if a President who is actually a leader - no way that's happening in 2012 either way - could/would make a difference. One suspects that we'll have to essentially have a crash in the bond/interest rate market for everybody to wake up and smell the coffee. There was an interesting piece in the WSJ that Ireland is coming back on its feet pretty quickly post its crisis, severe austerity period. It may be that rather than stimulus, hard core belt tightening all around is what we really need.

Posted by Not quite a Budget Wonk on Oct 12th, 2011 at 5:30 pm.

Ireland has unemployment above 14%

That's a lot of austerity, and the bankers are demanding still more.

Posted by ottnott on Oct 12th, 2011 at 7:16 pm.

Austerity for whom?

The WSJ one week ago:

DATA SNAP: Irish Budget Deficit Widens In First Nine Months
By Eamon Quinn
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--Ireland's budget deficit widened in the first nine months of the year, almost totally reflecting the recapitalization funds the government has pumped into Irish banks.

Finance ministry figures released Tuesday show the deficit increased to EUR20.6 billion through September, compared with EUR13.4 billion a year earlier.

However, revenue from taxes rose to EUR24 billion compared with EUR22.2 billion for the year-earlier following tax increases at the start of the year.

In March, the government pumped EUR3.1 billion more into Anglo Irish Bank Corp., Irish Nationwide Building Society and the Educational Building Society. And it pumped in a further EUR7.5 billion in recapitalization into the banking system following Irish central bank stress tests.

Excluding such banking costs, the underlying deficit is about EUR3 billion smaller than the same period a year ago, the finance ministry said.

The European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank scrutinize the monthly numbers for signs Ireland is complying with its bailout, which commits the government to more tough austerity.

To safeguard against potential economic shocks, the Irish central bank Tuesday urged the government to consider over-shooting its 2012 bailout target.

Posted by ottnott on Oct 12th, 2011 at 7:28 pm.