I wouldn't say *everywhere* Australia avoided recession during the global economic collapse and has maintained growth through the whole ordeal.

How about 20 years?  That's about how long Japan has been trying stimulus mesures in an attempt to kickstart GDP.  

http://seekingalpha.com/article/220703-japan-s-economy-shows-limits-of-keynesian-policies

Japan's been trying to spend there way out of trouble forever now.  Once their population gets a little older and there aren't enough conservative minded investors to buy government bonds... Japan will be facing a nigh inevitable crash of gigantic proportions.

The truth is... when your in a bad situation.  You CAN't get out of it.  Either by Spending or Austerity.

The biggest arrogance we have is that we can fix EVERYTHING.

We really can't.

The main difference is... spending can hide the numbers on the fundamentals.  Though the poor are still going to feel the burn.  Ask any of my customers where I work where the US Recovery is... they'll say it's nowhere

to call it a winner i wouldn't want to articles about growth not being as expected, and the us still possibly facing a recession/depression as we stop spending oney to prop things up.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100678290

" Gross domestic product expanded at 2.5 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, after growth nearly stalled at 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter. The increase, however, missed economists' expectations for a 3.0 percent growth pace.

Part of the acceleration in activity reflected farmers' filling up silos after a drought last summer decimated crop output. Removing inventories, the growth rate was a tepid 1.5 percent. "

"Data ranging from employment to retail sales and manufacturing weakened substantially in March after robust gains in the first two months of the year. There are indications the weakness persisted into April. "

" However, households cut back on saving to fund their purchases after incomes dropped at a 5.3 percent rate in the first quarter - a bad sign for future spending growth. The drop in income was the largest since the third quarter of 2009.

The saving rate - the percentage of disposable income households are socking away - fell to 2.6 percent, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2007, from 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012. "

" A core measure that strips out food and energy costs rose at a 1.2 percent rate, still well below the Fed's 2 percent target. Core PCE had increased at a 1.0 percent rate in the fourth quarter.

The lack of inflation should come as welcome relief for American households, but it could cause some nervousness at the U.S. central bank, which may see it as a symptom of the economy's weakness. "

I cherry picked some qoutes, but the article is all there. To me it just doesn't scream success and that we are out of the water. To me it more says we have no idea where things are going. We have less than expected growth that was bolstered by companies filling the reserves. Not much confidence in there.

No Paul Krugman mention is relevant without his brilliant insight.

"The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in “Metcalfe’s law”—which states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participants—becomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s." -Paul Krugman

Any economist that proclaims bubble growth over organic growth hates his children.

Except cat lady Krugman. His children won't outlive him.

Well, okay... looking at his spare tire and clam-like posture, maybe they will.

Sure?

Certainly looks like it dipped into a recession at a couple points.

Furthermore, any growth <2% is considered poor, let alone <1% which is anemic.

Organic growth is actually very limited in nature (mostly to time-saving innovations and things that enable more people to live longer and live better). Most growth is bubble growth, whether backed by government spending or not.

Not quite. The actual definition of recession is 2 consecutive periods of negative growth. That being said, their growth rate is still poor.

:D
Which European country is practising austerity?