We are so fucked

[randy_byers]

State expects $1.4B less in tax revenue; more cuts expected

[The state's chief economist Arun] Raha sees no indication things will turn around soon. "The Great Recession is turning out to be a never-ending nightmare," he said. "I truly wish I could assure you this nightmare is about to end, but I see no end in sight."

This story fills me with despair. We are well and truly fucked. We are plummeting downward, and there is apparently no bottom.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Will there ever be a point at which the politicians realize we need to increase revenue in a non-regressive form? I wonder.

(I can't even bring myself to follow the link.)

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Perhaps when American voters stop electing anti-tax zealots? (Ed Murray is proposing that a tax package be presented to voters next year to cover the revenue gap.)

[janetl.livejournal.com]

I keep telling myself that things have looked equally bleak to me before, and it got better.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I try to remind myself that we never know enough to be either optimistic *or* pessimistic about what's going to happen. I shouldn't post about this stuff, because my understanding is so limited. Ah well, I guess we all have to bleat sometimes.

[wrdnrd]

My understanding is likewise limited, and yet i also feel that we are reaching the point of being well and truly fucked. Where else can we cut??

[janetl.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hope my comment didn't read as any form of criticism. I'm worried, too, but I get some consolation (whether realistic or not) from remembering other times that I've thought the political and/or economic system was going over the cliff -- and it didn't (or at least not as much as I'd feared).

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

No, your comment didn't come across as critical. Just a good reminder.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

And the ridiculous thing is that we could be well on the way to solving all these particular problems, by the simple application of a robust dose of the economic theories of J.M. Keynes.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Can't remember who it was that blogged this week about the BRIC countries looking to save the eurozone from collapse. Could we have some help too, please?

[k6rfm.livejournal.com]

The problem is the Cliff Notes version of Keynes is "run balanced or small-surplus budgets in times of normal demand, run deficits during demand crunches." Bush basically did "run huge deficits in times of normal demand", which starts us off in such a big hole nobody is brave enough to build a long enough ladder.

The good news, of sorts, comes from the Reinhart and Rogoff "It's Different This Time" book. What we are suffering through is a very typical aftermath of a financial crisis. The good news is countries do work through it and get out. The bad news it takes about 8 years, and we're only 3 years in.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this, which seems like an eminently sane view, even if it isn't very reassuring in the short term. Why the EU is opting for austerity is something I haven't seen explained. China is the only country I know of that has gone full-tilt Keynesian, which maybe means Keynes is easier to adopt in a one-party system.