[PEN-L:30563] The U.S. Economy and War

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 19:42:37 -0400
From: Institute for Public Accuracy <ipamedia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: The U.S. Economy and War
To: Institute for Public Accuracy <institute@xxxxxxx>

Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@xxxxxxxxxxxx
___________________________________________________

        PM Wednesday, September 25, 2002

        Interviews Available:
        The U.S. Economy and War

DEAN BAKER, dean.baker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, http://www.cepr.net
Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Baker
said today: "The economy is facing the largest economic crisis since
the great depression. The collapse of the stock market bubble
destroyed more than $5 trillion of paper wealth, and the impending
collapse of the housing bubble will destroy almost as much wealth...."

DIANA  ZUCKERMAN, dz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, http://www.center4policy.org
President of the National Center for Policy Research for Women &
Families, Zuckerman said today: "The threat of war has sent the stock
market reeling, undermined consumer confidence, and is putting
enormous pressure on Congress to cut health and safety net programs
that millions of women and families rely on...."

RICHARD DU BOFF, rduboff@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Professor emeritus of economics at Bryn Mawr College and author of
"Accumulation and Power: An Economic History of the United States,"
Du Boff said today: "War against Iraq will cost somewhere between $50
billion and $100 billion by most estimates -- excluding postwar costs
of occupation of the country for longer than most Americans realize
or care to think about. The effect on the U.S. economy will be mildly
stimulative, limited only by a possible run-up of oil prices once
U.S. attacks on Iraq begin. The basic economic impact of the war will
be fiscal. It will represent one more way that Bush is using the
terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001 as a perfect pretext for carrying out
right-wing domestic and international policies that he could only
dream about before 9/11. In this case, war spending will join
'Homeland Security' spending in crowding out, and reducing, all other
'nonessential' -- in other words, social -- expenditures. The federal
budget deficit will be increased, providing another reason to cut
government spending; Bush has returned to this theme twice in the
past week, and, with congressional Democrats silent on the issue, he
has been able to avoid any discussion of his massive and regressive
tax cuts coming to a theater near you in the next four to ten years."

DOUG HENWOOD, dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx, http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html
Author of the book "Wall Street," Henwood said today: "Though it
looked for a while like the recession ended in December, the economy
hasn't really recovered, and forward-looking indicators are slipping.
So we're either facing another downturn or an extended bout of
economic trouble. If we had a grown-up political culture, we'd be
seriously discussing some long-term structural issues, like
polarization, debt, the causes of the late '90s bubble and the
consequences of its breaking. Instead, we're getting gossipy coverage
of corporate scandals -- or were, until the war drums drowned
everything else out...."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

--
Yoshie

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