Paul Krugman has a pretty straightforward plan to deal with the sequester that’s due to hit March 1. The New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist says, “The right policy would be to forget about the whole thing.” 

He bases his proposal on what Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen said in her keynote address to the Trans-Atlantic Agenda for Shared Prosperity conference at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Fiscal austerity, such as the sequester and the latest doomsday alert from the Bowles-Simpson duo, is the enemy of real economic recovery. 

"Fix the Debt" portrays itself as a nonpartisan group designed to convince government to do something drastic about the national debt, which it says is a significant danger to the country. And despite widespread evidence from economists that their proposals would hurt the economy, Fix the Debt's members are pushing for a set of policies based on tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans and benefit cuts to lifelines like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.

In 2008, with the global financial crisis at its peak and the world teetering on the brink of a second Great Depression, world leaders and policymakers took decisive fiscal and monetary policy actions that bolstered our economies and stopped our financial system from spiraling into chaos and dragging our economies into depression.

But today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told the “Trans-Atlantic Agenda for Shared Prosperity” economic summit: 

Our work is far from done, and no progress has been easy. We have had to battle those who wanted to block the fiscal stimulus, which was so critical for halting our economic slide. And we are still battling those same opponents who now want to impose strict fiscal austerity that threatens to sabotage our economy and trigger a new recession, as those same policies have in Europe.

Working families aren't fooled. There's nothing "fair and balanced" about the Bowles-Simpson budget plan that would ultimately increase unemployment, cut Social Security benefits, tax workers’ health benefits and scapegoat federal employees while giving more tax breaks for sending jobs overseas and lowering tax rates for Wall Street and the wealthiest 2%. Yesterday, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) introduced an amendment to H.R. 444, that would direct President Obama to follow the budget recommendations of Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, known as the Bowles-Simpson plan. 

This is an excerpt of The Hill's, "Austerity Economics is Bad Policy and Politics," by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

Not only is austerity bad politics – even Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan had to distance themselves from it – but it’s disastrous economic policy. Austerity economics is responsible for the country’s growing inequality, rising deficits and unemployment. Austerity economics means the wealthy remain unscathed while the people who rely on programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – the elderly, the disabled, the poor and the young – will get less and pay more. And let’s not forget the impact this will have on future generations.

A group of 350 prominent economists, including economic experts from the AFL-CIO, issued a joint statement warning that the type of austerity measures favored by Republicans and suggested by the bipartisan commission, led by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, would further harm the economy and weaken the social safety net that millions of working families rely upon. They argue that the seemingly obsessive focus on the deficit obscures what the country really needs to focus on—creating jobs.

If you’re in Washington, D.C., join us at the AFL-CIO for a Friday book series running July 13 through August 3 featuring well-known authors discussing their new books on jobs, inequality and the U.S. financial crisis.

Jeff Faux, Tim Noah, Tom Palley and Simon Johnson will be here for discussions and book signings—and we hope you can join one or more of the events. Bring your lunch and get set for a lively discussion. Beverages will be provided. Books will be available for purchase.

How did Wall Street get away with crashing the U.S. economy?  Its inner circle spoke a “language” only one percent of the public could understand. Now, a new booklet explains its jargon to the rest of the country.

“Economics for the 99%” serves as an economic translation dictionary, clarifying Wall Street’s “bankspeak,” explaining the  role of the Federal Reserve, as well as the so-called austerity war. 

Survey after survey shows the public wants corporations to stop sending jobs overseas and hopes the federal government takes action to get jobs back to this country, as demonstrated in a recent compilation of polling data by Ruy Teixeira at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Ninety percent said keeping jobs in America was either one of the most effective steps (59 percent) or a very effective step (31 percent) that
the government could take to improve the economy. The 2011 Pew Mobility survey also showed the “Keep jobs in America” option was ranked first out of 16 possible steps the government could take to make sure people don’t fall behind economically.

There is a massive disconnect between the austerity measures proposed by national governments worldwide and a desire to invest in jobs and growth on the part of citizens, according to a poll commissioned by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents surveyed say they prefer jobs and growth, 10 percent austerity and 24 percent express equal support for both messages.