Posted on 07/03/2012 12:54:15 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A failure to avoid the “fiscal cliff” could slash the U.S. growth rate to under a 1% annual rate and risk harming the global economy, the International Monetary Fund said in a report released Tuesday.
The fiscal cliff is Washington shorthand for current tax and spending plans, enacted in law when the debt ceiling was narrowly passed last summer, that would shrink the deficit by around 4% of gross domestic product in 2013.
These policies “could reduce growth to well below 1%, with negative growth early next year and significant negative repercussions on an already fragile world economy,” the IMF warned.
Lawmakers should replace the fiscal cliff with a program of small deficit reduction in the short-term with a longer-term fiscal sustainability program, the IMF said.
A small deficit reduction means cuts totalling about 1% of gross domestic product in calendar year 2013, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said at a press conference.
Growth in the largest global economy is expected to average 2% in 2012 and 2.25% in 2013, and downside risks have intensified, the IMF said
With interest rates near zero since December 2008 and the federal budget needing to be trimmed, U.S. officials have “limited space to act,” said Lagarde. But they must use it, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
We are in the process of removing the fiscal cliff......right out from under out feet.
That is just what Hussein Cloward-Piven Obama is doing isn't it? Fundamentally changing America as advertized.
Tell me exactly why we should save the global socialist economy, in particular, socialist and communist Europe or the sh!t hole mideast?
Why should America care about the “global” economy?
Take care things at home and everything will right itself.
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.