saying, quote, the private sector is doing fine. but he later said this listen, it is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine. there are too many people out of work. the housing market is still weak and too many homes under water. and that s precisely why i asked congress to start taking some steps that can make a difference. so, joe, did the president misspeak originally? i think what the president was trying to say was technically true in that if you look across the board, private sector hiring is up, not by a lot. and in some areas, it s flat. but it is in positive territory compared with public sector spending, which combined with republican austerity programs and capitol hill denial of aids to states has gone through the roof. so private sector unemployment is doing better, and private businesses also have billions of dollars in capital that s sitting on the sidelines. and that s for two reasons.
with cash. for fear that i might wind up driving an electric car i have to agree with adam. i can t believe i just said that. i was thinking about buying one. i really am. i think that europe is a known i don t worry so much about europe s impact on us. i worry about china and our own policy mistakes. we have a lot of trouble here at home in terms of job growth. in terms of looming tax cut expirations. there is a lot to change the mood of american corporations. i think you are underestimating how big of a problem europe is from this standpoint. italy is a big economy with no growth. no entrepreneurship. these are countries that have to go into massive austerity programs. they can t just print money any more are and that will have a big impact. and every day in the market no one is talking china per se.
if he succeeds, he charts a path out of the crisis for other countries. then iran. it s in dire economic straits for a very different reason. we have another exclusive. this one with iran s finance minister about just how crippling u.s.-led sanctions have been for his nation. next up, a conversation with paul krugman. the biggest question in the world today is whether to spend or whether to cut. krugman is the leading voice saying stimulate. i ll ask him to defend his views. all that plus superstitions in the race for space. but, first, here s my take. everyone is worried that greece might default on its national debt. that s really not news. by one estimate and the 180 years since greece gained its independence from the ottomans in 1832, the country has been in default or restructuring for half that period. the news is that this time, germany is willing to bail greece out. throughout the euro zone crisis, it has been conventional wisdom to regard the germans as narro
we have another exclusive. if one with iran s finance minister about just how crippling u.s.-led sanctions have been for his nation. next up, a conversation with paul, the biggest question in the world today is whether to spend or whether to cut. krugman is the leading voice saying stimulate. i ll ask him to defend his views. all that plus superstitions in the race for space. but, first, here s my take. everyone is worried that greece might default on its national debt. that s really not news. by one estimate 180 years since greece gained its independence in 1832 the country has been in default or restructuring for half that period. the news is that this time germany is willing to bail greece out. throughout the euro zone crisis it has been conventional wisdom to regard the germans as narrow-minded, ungenerous, and dog matticly wedded austerity to treat europe s problems. these criticisms are vastly overstated. consider that germany is being asked to take its taxpayers oh mon
faring worse than the great depression. debt is a greater ratio of gdp than it was before the austerity programs. and based on austerity. and slashing spending. and of course, has e england and to give bond has england cut spending? no sh no, no, it has not. we are talking about nominal inflation? no, it is not nominal inflation, and what we are saying is that austerity does have to do with increases, but it is macro flows and one thing that europe has not done is to create euro bonds and every single country is on their own. in america the way we finance this is that all of the states have the backing of the treasure which is how we deal with thing is to equalize the risk across and that is short of inflation to be the end game and as of yet germany is not willing to go. and wait a sec. here is what i want to make sure we are doing, because for a lot of folks watching and as we were trying to wrap our heads around