Economic Argument for Austerity Based on Excel Error?

[Ideologue]

Not just employed.  If Joan Millions lost his job tomorrow, would his life be likely to substantially materially differ from now till the day he died?  Survey says no.

[OttoVonBismarck]

Not just employed.  If Joan Millions lost his job tomorrow, would his life be likely to substantially materially differ from now till the day he died?  Survey says no.

All depends on your spending habits. Joan strikes me as smart but also someone who recognizes quality and enjoys the finer things in life. I imagine his consumption practices would thus probably change if his income flow from his job was turned off, but I also imagine he's smart enough that he's well invested and financially safe from any catastrophic personal financial troubles if his income goes away.

I'd contrast him with several of the head surgeons at my wife's hospital who make about 2x her pay (two of them making over $650k) who are so massively indebted that if their income stream went down even a bit they would rapidly collide with personal bankruptcy.

[CountDeMoney]

He's a Jewish lawyer in Manhattan, guys.  Fucker's got shoeboxes inside of shoeboxes stashed with cash, and the rest invested in marital aid novelty companies.

[The Brain]

He's a Jewish lawyer in Manhattan, guys.  Fucker's got shoeboxes inside of shoeboxes stashed with cash, and the rest invested in marital aid novelty companies.

Who posts on Languish.

[crazy canuck]

He's a Jewish lawyer in Manhattan, guys.  Fucker's got shoeboxes inside of shoeboxes stashed with cash, and the rest invested in marital aid novelty companies.

Who posts on Languish.

you do.

What's with all the JR hate?

[CountDeMoney]

What's with all the JR hate?

Nobody hates Minsky.  We just stereotype him.  Kinda like we do with you.

[Jacob]

Nobody hates Minsky.  We just stereotype him.  Kinda like we do with you.

Thankfully, no one stereotypes me.

[DGuller]

Nobody hates Minsky.  We just stereotype him.  Kinda like we do with you.

Thankfully, no one stereotypes me.

[Ideologue]

Nobody hates Minsky.  We just stereotype him.  Kinda like we do with you.

Thankfully, no one stereotypes me.

I know I never do.

[Neil]

Nobody hates Minsky.  We just stereotype him.  Kinda like we do with you.

Thankfully, no one stereotypes me.

I do.  I love stereotyping.

[The Minsky Moment]

We did succeed in preventing the rare, high severity risk.  In fact, we haven't had a high severity event in the developed world since the early 1930s.

You may have been untouched by the events of 2008 and onward, I suppose.

I typically find your posts exceptionally wise, or at least staggeringly well-informed, but this answer strikes me as one of the most ivory-toweresque things I've ever read from you.

2008 was terrible but it was terrible in the way that 1982 was terrible or the 70s stagflation was terrible.  It doesn't come close to the Great Depression levels of misery, as did the earlier crises we mentioned.  I am talking about unemployment rates reaching deep into the 20 percent range and falls in output reaching a quarter of total output - i.e. double what happened in 08-09.

The historical memory of that catastrophe has receded so much that we lack proper standard of comparison anymore.  The GD wasn't Chaplinesque charmers with shabby clothes but winning smiles enjoying hijinks.  It was middle class people leaving in Mubai-like chanties in Central Park and sleeping on the streets.  That is what a real "high severity" economic event looks like, and we should all be very greatful none of us have ever experienced it.

[Razgovory]

What about other countries like in the Eurozone?  They are kind of Western.  Greece and Spain were hit pretty hard.

[fhdz]

My concern about 2008+ is not that it was as severe as the Great Depression but that almost all the same policies and procedures that led to it are still in place. As long as we continue with business as usual we will still have all the issues with "too big to fail" and other fragilizing political arrangements to have similar events in the future.

[Admiral Yi]

Fragilizing? 

[Zanza]

What about other countries like in the Eurozone?  They are kind of Western.  Greece and Spain were hit pretty hard.

Depression level GDP contractions are so far only in Greece, which is at 79% of its pre-crisis GDP/capita in real terms. Cyprus is likely to follow this year.
The rest saw pretty bad contractions, but not really comparable to the desperate situation in Greece. The problem is that we are now in year six after the last peak and a lot of countries look nowhere close to regaining that previous peak.