SADS strikes affluent, older, white males from Saskatchewan

SADS strikes affluent, older, white males from Saskatchewan

Postby Oscar » Tue Jan 24, 2017 6:22 pm

Others sure to suffer as Sudden Apocalyptic Deficit Syndrome strikes affluent, older, white males from Saskatchewan

[ http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/djclime ... ome-strike ]

By David J. Climenhaga | January 24, 2017

Saskatchewan appears to be suffering from a serious economic malady.

Nobel Prize-winning economist and journalist Paul Krugman calls it "Austerity Fever."

Canadian economist and journalist Toby Sanger calls it Sudden Apocalyptic Deficit Syndrome (SADS).

Call it what you will, a new case has now been diagnosed in Manitoba, and conservatives here in Alberta appear to have been afflicted as well -- although, thankfully, not our social democratic NDP government.

As a result, for the time being at least, we will likely be spared the worst symptoms of this tragic condition, which Sanger noted in correspondence with your blogger is "mainly a disease of affluent older white males, in which the 'cure' is inflicted on others, and is far worse than the disease."

The supposed remedy, akin to the application of leeches in Medieval Europe, takes the form of harsh austerity applied to depressed economies. It "isn't necessary, and does major damage when it is imposed," Krugman has explained in many places, including the comprehensive piece quoted here, written in 2015 for The Guardian. [ https://www.theguardian.com/business/ng ... y-delusion ]

So the "strange malady" causes its victims (like Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and the members of his cabinet, although they were too insignificant for Krugman to mention by name) to exhibit such symptoms as "extravagant fear and blithe optimism."

Indeed, both symptoms are on display right now [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon ... -1.3937578 ] as Wall and members of his government suffer the vapours at the prospect of a $1-billion deficit while experiencing fevered hallucinations about how attacking the salaries of working people, eliminating public sector jobs and shrinking economic activities by the government will result in a wonderful, market fundamentalist economic utopia.

So, if you were wondering, it's obviously SADS/Austerity Fever that's behind the cuts, wage caps and rollbacks for front-line public sector workers like nurses and teachers that were announced by the Saskatchewan government last week.

"Everything must be on the table" when it comes to the task of rolling back Saskatchewan's deficit -- which, by the way, is about the same size as Alberta's as a percentage of GDP and would be bigger without that province's 5-per-cent sales tax -- Wall said recently. [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... -1.3913592 ]

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[ http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/djclime ... ome-strike ]
Oscar
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