The recession in Europe was the predictable (and predicted) consequence of its austerity policies and a euro framework that was doomed to fail. America’s anemic recovery – with growth barely sufficient to create jobs for new entrants into the labor force – was the predictable (and predicted) consequence of political gridlock, which prevented the enactment of President Barack Obama’s jobs bill and sent the economy toward a “fiscal cliff.”
发自纽约——2012年正如我想的一样糟糕。欧洲的经济衰退从其紧缩政策和注定失败的欧元体系中就能预测到（而且也预测中了）。美国的微弱复苏仅能勉强为其新生劳动力提供足够的工作岗位，这个结局从美国的政治僵局也能推测到（且预测中了），政治僵局使美国总统奥巴马无法实施其工作法案，也把整体经济推向了“财政悬崖”。