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The US economic outlook? Grim!

Some pundits are suggesting that the latest economic news out of the USA is encouraging - that is, the signs are of an improvement from the myriad of issues like weak consumer spending, etc. On the other hand there are some economists who say that it is only a matter of time before the US will be confronted with the same sort of issues which Japan did many years ago and now Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Economics Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman, who writes a regular op-ed piece for The New York Times, says that it is only a matter of time before America is confronted with an economic "blood bath".

"Former Senator Alan Simpson is a Very Serious Person. He must be — after all, President Obama appointed him as co-chairman of a special commission on deficit reduction.

So here’s what the very serious Mr. Simpson said on Friday: “I can’t wait for the blood bath in April. ... When debt limit time comes, they’re going to look around and say, ‘What in the hell do we do now? We’ve got guys who will not approve the debt limit extension unless we give ’em a piece of meat, real meat,’ ” meaning spending cuts. “And boy, the blood bath will be extraordinary,” he continued.

Think of Mr. Simpson’s blood lust as one more piece of evidence that our nation is in much worse shape, much closer to a political breakdown, than most people realize."

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