28-Year-Old Grad Student Proves that Austerity Movement "Experts" Got It Wrong – Austerity Is No Longer the Answer, Says Barroso

Most Ph.D. students spend their days reading esoteric books and stressing out about the tenure-track job market. Thomas Herndon, a 28-year-old economics grad student at UMass Amherst, just used part of his spring semester to shake the intellectual foundation of the global austerity movement.

By Kevin Roose

Full Story: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/04/grad-student-who-shook-global-austerity-movement.html

(Many thanks to Chelsea Volkerts of Hulu.com for sharing this.)

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Austerity Is No Longer the Answer, Says Barroso

BRUSSELS – The European Union’s chief bureaucrat said the bloc should place a greater emphasis on policies that stimulate growth in the short term, and less on cutting government spending.

In a speech Monday, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the policy of austerity pursued by the EU in recent years no longer has the political and social support needed to work.

His comments are the latest in a series of public statements that indicate a shift in European economic policy is under way.

By ALESSANDRO TORELLO , FRANCES ROBINSON and PAUL HANNON

Full Story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324874204578438250267965718.html?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories