New research produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirms that “fiscal consolidation” (i.e., deficit reduction) policies of the sort currently applied by several European governments at the behest of the IMF and EU increase inequality and unemployment.

IMF researchers also have determined that capital account liberalization, which the IMF pressed its member countries to carry out until it changed its policy last year, has been associated with increased inequality.

In its new briefing paper, A Cautionary Tale: The True Cost of Austerity and Inequality in Europe, Oxfam compares Europe’s current austerity measures to the failed “structural adjustment” programs imposed on developing countries by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in the 1980s and 1990s. The conclusion?  “Europe is facing a lost decade. An additional 15 [million] to 25 million people across Europe could face the prospect of living in poverty by 2025 if austerity measures continue,” says the report.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has released a lot of important research about the economy in the past few weeks. Here's a look at some of the key pieces it uncovered about the U.S. economy.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said on Sunday that Republicans would be open to restoring some of the funding lost in the job-killing sequester if new cuts to social safety net programs were put in place. In effect, Cantor is suggesting replacing one policy that hurts the economy and suppresses job growth with another policy that does the exact same thing.

While many Republicans and conservatives have minimized the impact of the sequester and its effects on America's working families, nearly 40% of people say it has hurt them personally. Here are 25 ways the sequester is affecting people's lives, not just right now, but more and more over time.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has released a lot of important research about the economy in the last few weeks.  Here's a look at some of the key pieces it uncovered about the U.S. economy.

A new report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), called Corporate Pirates of the Caribbean, details how the CEOs who make up the group Fix the Debt, a group pushing for harsh austerity measures, are set to make even higher profits off of the policies they are pursuing in the name of "balancing the budget." Fix the Debt's members are pushing for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and earned social insurance benefits, while seeking to widen tax haven loopholes by creating a "territorial" tax system, which would earn them as much as $173 billion.

Join Damon Silvers, director of policy and special counsel for the AFL-CIO, June 5 from 3–4 p.m. EDT for a live Twitter chat that will explode the economic myths peddled by the “austerians” and offer a range of alternatives and an economic vision that will work for working families. 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) issued its economic outlook for the modern, democratic, industrialized economies at its annual meeting of member nation ministers. It was mostly gloom. The European members of the OECD are mired in a deep economic slump. In 2012, the European members had a drop in Gross Domestic Product (the combined value of goods and services produced) of 0.5% and is projected to have that same poor performance in 2013. Behind those numbers, however, are the lives of real people. When an economy shrinks, it means there are fewer jobs and that means growing stress on the day-to-day lives of people. Just as in the United States, the loss of job opportunities is being felt most keenly by young workers.

In Paris on Tuesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka warned the leaders and policymakers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that the financial austerity measures, like those taken by European nations, destroy jobs, increase inequality and likely feed the public’s mistrust of government.