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Back to To the Point

To the Point

The Backlash Against Austerity

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.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

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?

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Caitlin Shamberg

    KCRW

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    Anna Scott

    Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

  • KCRW placeholder

    Kerry Cavanaugh

    editorial writer at the Los Angeles Times

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    Tony Barber

    Financial Times

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    Neil Irwin

    New York Times

  • KCRW placeholder

    Mark Blyth

    Brown University

    NewsNationalPolitics
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