The Evils of Austerity?

Wait a minute, the facts are that federal government spending has increased dramatically since the beginning of the crisis in 2008. According to the White House, total federal outlays were the following (in millions). http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf 2008 2,982,544 2009 3,517,677 2010 3,456,213 2011 3,603,061 2012est 3,795,547 Now lets include outlays at the beginning of the decade for further comparison. 2001 1,862,846 2002 2,010,894 Where is the austerity? I think you have perception confused with actuality. There are those in Congress who have made speeches about austerity and the need to spend less, but none of the talk has translated directly into reduced spending yet. So far Congress has done exactly what Krugman and those in his camp recommended. Now if you want even more spending, then that's a separate argument, but I think it is mistaken to say that austerity has been imposed in any form. The increase in spending from 2007 to 2012 is approximately 27%! Federal outlays have doubled since 2001! Where is the austerity?