Austerity measures in Europe have been the topic of a heated and mostly confused debate in the economic world. During the May summit of the leading industrial nations at Camp David, German chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders pushed for continued European austerity. Keynesian critics argue that these policies destroy economic growth.

Will we recover, unbridle ourselves of debt, innovate, pay for our national security? Or, is China fated to become number one, leaving us to live in a Chinese world?

In the run-up to this weekend's G-8 summit at Camp David, journalists have unfavorably compared European "austerity" with Barack Obama's economic policies.

In his April Economic Outlook, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) economist John Makin assesses the risks the world faces as a result of China’s slowing economy. With the coming transition in Chinese leadership, it is unlikely that the world's second largest economy will alter its policies to stimulate growth. As a result, the whole world may feel China's pain.

Barack Obama’s presidency has had profoundly negative consequences for our national security. From debilitating cuts in defense budgets, to gutting national missile defense efforts, to his unwillingness to acknowledge a continuing war against terrorism, to his inability to stem the nuclear proliferation threats posed by North Korea and Iran....the picture is bleak.

As the House of Representatives prepared to consider the Small Business Tax Cut Act, AEI economist Aparna Mathur gave testimony on why higher taxes and regulation on small businesses impede sustainable economic growth. 

Christopher DeMuthPresidentAmerican Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Cordially invites you to attend the2001 Henry Wendt Lecture

World Economic Growth: The Past 1,000 Years

Angus MaddisonWendt Visiting Scholar, AEI

Why have a few countries, mostly in Western Europe and North America, become so much wealthier than the rest of the world's nations?