17 Nobel laureate economists bickered over the wisdom of
austerity measures when they met this weekend in Lindau, Germany
and St. Gallen, Switzerland.  The one thing they agreed on is
that growth will suck.  German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble said the global economy may see "seven lean years" as
a result of austerity measures.  Here's more of what the
economists had to say:  On austerity (from Reuters and
Bloomberg)  - Robert Mundell, Reinhard Selten, and Myron Scholes
came out in favor of austerity, according to Bloomberg. Mundell
advocated "draconian methods [in Greece] to attack entitlements
in welfare spending, to cut back on things that cause the
problem." Scholes also advocated a true debate on entitlements
in the U.S.  - Joseph Stiglitz came out in the anti-austerity
camp, saying cost-cutting measures right now go "in exactly the
wrong direction." In economies that have adopted austerity
during recessions, he said, "the economy goes from a downturn to
recession and from recession to depression.