International May Day rallies are supposed to celebrate the dignity of human labor, but with 26 million Europeans out of work and unemployment at 27 percent in Greece and Spain, today's rallies were protests against the consequences of massive spending cuts and increased taxes. Unemployment is setting records in Eurozone countries, and the focus is shifting from reducing debt to growing troubled economies. Some economists are saying "we told you so," bolstered, believe it or not, by discovery of an Excel spread-sheet error in an influential research paper. What will the "austerity" backlash mean for the "sequester" in this country? Are politicians catching up with new ideas of what works and what doesn't?
The Backlash Against Austerity
Credits
Guests:
- Tony Barber - Financial Times
- Neil Irwin - New York Times - @Neil_Irwin
- Mark Blyth - Brown University - @MkBlyth
- John Makin - American Enterprise Institute