By Tim Price, originally published on Next New Deal
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Cheating Our Children (NYT)
Paul Krugman writes that after repeatedly crying wolf about a looming economic disaster, deficit hawks instead claim we're cheating future generations by taking on debt. Their answer, of course, is to cheat them now so they're not so disappointed later.
This is What Happens When You Rip a Hole in the Safety Net (The Nation)
NND Editor Bryce Covert notes that despite the media's pearl clutching over rising dependence on disability and SNAP benefits, the explanation is simple: we've done little to halt the growth of poverty and plenty to ensure the poor have nowhere else to turn.
Let it Bleed? (Project Syndicate)
Brad DeLong writes that given the way the current U.S. economic crisis has dragged on and the amount of damage it's inflicted, calling it the Lesser Depression might be selling it short. What more could it do to earn its place among the all-time Greats?
Cyprus Is Doomed: Why the Country Must Leave the Euro Immediately (The Atlantic)
Matthew O'Brien argues that the bailout/bail-in deal Cyprus and the Troika have negotiated is a fool-proof plan to crush the Cypriot economy with more austerity, hobble its financial sector, and saddle it with a universal currency that can't leave its borders.
The Debate on Bank Size Is Over (NYT)
Simon Johnson writes that while it may be in lobbyists' best interests to pretend the jury's still out on ending "too big to fail," watching Cyprus's banks trigger the country's self-destruct sequence should explain why most serious policymakers disagree.
Stop subsidizing Wall Street (WaPo)
FDIC vice chairman Thomas Hoenig argues that it's time for banks to stop relying on the American public as an all-purpose safety net and insurance policy. If they really believe in taking huge risks, there's no need for them to keep living vicariously through us.
The Weeklies (Prospect)
Monica Potts profiles a group of families in the suburbs of Denver who were left homeless by the Great Recession and forced to live week to week in a cheap hotel, trading in their dreams of white picket fences for mismatched bed sets and a mini-fridge.
Libertarians name North Dakota "most free" state (Salon)
Alex Pareene notes that the libertarian Mercatus Center has identified North Dakota as America's little slice of heaven. With its low tax rates and lax regulations, it's a wonder people choose to live anywhere else. But they do. They definitely, definitely do.
Tim Price is Deputy Editor of Next New Deal. Follow him on Twitter @txprice.