Morning Must-Read: Paul Krugman: The Biggest Losers from the Budget Deal Are All of Us
Paul Krugman: The Biggest Losers:
The pundit consensus seems to be that Republicans lost in the just-concluded budget deal.... But if Republicans arguably lost this round, the unemployed lost even more... 1.3 million workers will be cut off at the end of this month, and many more will see their benefits run out in the months that follow. And if you take a longer perspective... what you see is a triumph of anti-government ideology that has had enormously destructive effects on American workers.... Over the past three years we’ve been living through an era of unprecedented government downsizing.... What has been cut?... Education, infrastructure, research, and conservation. While the Recovery Act (the Obama stimulus) was in effect, the federal government provided significant aid to state and local education. Then the aid went away.... Meanwhile, public investment fell sharply.... These harsh cuts... were unnecessary. The Washington establishment may have hyperventilated about debt and deficits, but markets have never shown any concern at all.... The cuts did huge short-term economic damage.... Finally, if you look at my list of major areas that were cut, you’ll notice that they mainly involve investing in the future...
