> Journalists keep referring to the years of “austerity” that Greece has endured. Government spending has been cut so much that it is now only 58.5 percent of G

> Journalists keep referring to the years of “austerity” that Greece has endured. Government spending has been cut so much that it is now only 58.5 percent of GDP (heritage.org). It seems a little misleading to say this. Greece's GDP has tanked since 2008, why would you expect spending/GDP to fall even if they made cuts? Worse, in countries with any kind of safety nets, plummeting GDP (and thus rising unemployment) means more people will take advantage of expensive government social services. There is simply no way to cut your way out of debt in a deep recession when you already have high debt. See also Krugman's posts here: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/debt-deflation-in-greece/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/debt-deflation-i... http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/milton-friedman-irving-fisher-and-greece/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/07/milton-friedman-...