$85 billion austerity hit lines up US economy | Bangkok Post: news

News > World

$85 billion austerity hit lines up US economy

An $85 billion dollar austerity time bomb was to detonate against the US economy Friday, as President Barack Obama blamed a Republican refusal to compromise for a failure to avert "dumb" spending cuts.

US President Barack Obama speaks to the media about sequestration in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, March 1, 2013. Obama on Friday branded the automatic budget cuts about to slam into the US economy "dumb" and "unnecessary" but blamed Republicans for the failure to avert them.

The slashing reductions in domestic and defense spending, brought on by deep ideological differences between Obama and top Republicans, threaten to further slow tepid economic growth and could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

This article is older than 60 days, which we reserve for our premium members only.You can subscribe to our premium member subscription, here.

Most Viewed

  • 26,000 reds recall bloodshed

    Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra said the government's amnesty efforts must focus on absolving red shirts facing legal action in connection with the 2010 political violence rather than protest leaders or even himself.

Forum

image

Your comments

  • faranginkorat

    Post : 233

    Send message

    Discussion 1 : 01 Mar 2013 at 11.561

    "SAVAGE BUDGET CUTS", sensational headline.
    Reality check: The US government spent $3.54 trillion last year, nearly 25% of GDP.
    $85 billion is 2.4 percent of that.

Reply

Sign in once and access every part of the website at your convenience!

Please log in to our Bangkokpost.com community to post your comment.
You can sign in to the community by clicking here.

If you are not part of the community yet, please sign up here. By being part of this community you will get all these privileges.