Deficit fever is definitely breaking. But we're not out of the woods just yet.
by digby
Uh oh, here comes another shrill condemnation of deficit fever by a leftwing radical commie:
The International Monetary Fund chief criticized the U.S. on Tuesday for cutting back government spending too much too fast, saying it was taking a toll on growth in one of the world's main economic engines.
Christine Lagarde also said upbeat financial markets are out of whack with a sluggish global economy that is showing signs of slowing even further.
In an overview of trouble spots around the world, Lagarde said the U.S. had come a long way in the five years since it triggered the global economic crisis with financial excesses.
"Despite this progress, the U.S. is not doing as well as it should, largely because of self-inflicted fiscal wounds," she said, a reference to government belt tightening which the IMF says has gone too far too fast.
She particularly criticized across-the-board federal spending cuts imposed in March known as sequestration.
Unfortunately, she repeats other tropes about needing to deal with "entitlements" even though we've just instituted a massive overhaul of the health care sector and don't know yet how much it's going to affect costs. And Social Security projected shortfalls are still decades away and may very well be "fixed" by the passage of immigration reform. (Certainly, cuts are unnecessary and cruel --- we actually need to raise benefits.)
Still, it's another data point showing that deficit fever may have finally broken. We're still weak and the infection could always come back. (The Pete Peterson bacteria can morph overnight...) We must be vigilant. But it's looking better.
Now if they could just get rid of sequestration altogether we'd be in good shape. Unfortunately, with everyone in both parties protecting the military cuts it looks as though the GOP won that round. The cuts are hurting all the people they love to hurt: children, the poor, the sick, the old and the disabled. They must be so happy.
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