States cut their way to ... increased unemployment

Around the world, we're seeing the disastrous outcomes of the passion for "austerity," basically governments cutting services and investments in the future to the bone while refusing to raise revenues by taxing the rich or corporations. They claim the intent is to somehow cut our way to prosperity, even as in case after case the evidence shows it has the opposite effect. Here's how that plays out with state budgets:

(ThinkProgress)

The Center for American Progress Action Fund's Adam Hersh breaks it down:

Relative to national economic trends, states that increased spending enjoyed on average:

• 0.2 percentage point decrease in the unemployment rate
• 1.4 percent increase in private employment
• 0.5 percent real economic growth since the start of the recession

In contrast, states that cut spending saw on average

• 1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate
• 2.1 percent loss of private employment
• 2.9 percent real economic contraction relative to the national economic trend

We could debate whether the Republicans (and some Democrats) pushing these policies see rising unemployment as a good thing as opposed to just not caring since it doesn't touch their families. But there's no way to seriously argue they're trying to reduce unemployment and put people back to work.