Posted on 04/09/2013 9:02:13 AM PDT by whitedog57
President Obama’s budget will be released tomorrow and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is visiting Europe to preview President Obama’s budget: increase in debt of $7.3 trillion and removal of spending controls. Lew is advising Europe to borrow and spend more.
Washington Post’s Zach Goldfarb reports Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, “quickly embracing his role as the leading US diplomat on the economy, pushed his counterparts in Europe on Monday to do more to drive economic growth and enact stronger and more unified defenses against financial panics.” In Brussels on Monday morning, Lew met with “a series of officials that included European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Afterward, Lew said the continent’s fortunes will weigh heavily on the United States and that he expects the Europeans to continue to take steps to generate growth.”
The European “powerhouses” Germany, France and the UK barely are above 0% growth in terms of GDP growth.
The economic non-powerhouses of Europe, primarily around the Mediterranean, are experiencing negative GDP growth.
France, as an example, seems to be spiraling downwards.
And their loan growth is declining.
Is the problem austerity as Lew says? Or is it the regulatory leviathan and staggering social welfare benefits (such as hairdressers in Greece retiring after 5 years on a full pension)?
As the ECB continues to help push down European sovereign rates, the table is set for an expansion of government borrowing and spending.
Stay tuned. Or to quote former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “What difference does it make?”
Staggering debt, entitlements and regulations? It DOES make a difference.
The progressives first goal is to prevent economic growth. In conjunction with that they want to redistribute the wealth that currently exists.
How do you create jobs in a zero growth economy (no private company is going to ad jobs if they aren’t growing)? You invent government jobs. This accomplishes both goals. Steal resources from the private sector that could be invested for growth and give it to the new government employees.
Any politician (R or D) that only talks about jobs is in league with progressives.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.