we're back with ragu and chrystia. made some great suggestions about how we fix our economy and guess what, none of them are short-term. i suspect if you were running for office you wouldn't get a few votes. kris ya, how do we take those ideas and plant them into this weird environment that we're in, that people want fast answers, to get us out of the hole now? >> well, i don't blame people for wanting fast answers, because a lot of people are suffering and as you pointed out, ali, they've been living in this beautiful illusion. so people aren't expecting to have suffered. but i think what really politicians need to be talking about is a few things. first of all, this is a time for national investment. ragu was speaking about education. he's right. that doesn't come for free. it's not free for the students who need to be educated, it's not free for the government. but what is america doing right now? firing teachers. and the great american public university system is actually weakening. i think that is really a central

chrystia said one other thing that i want your take on.s there is a structural change in america's economy with technology and globalization and movement of low-wage jobs. do you think that's an attributer to the slowness of the recovery? >> no. i think the american economy fundamentally is in good shape. i think american businesses have restructured. they've lowered their cost structures. their margins, profit margins are as wide as they've ever been. they've reduced debt and they're in fighting shape. i don't think it's a question of can american businesses compete. it's a matter of willingness. they have change and restructured but i think we're on the precipice of stronger growth. we need to get through one of these big unknowns and nail down some of these fiscal issues. >> jennifer: do you think they're holding back because of uncertainty, investing the large amounts of money that they have on the balance sheets? >> yeah, i do. again, it's not pulling back. it's not laying off. it's instead of hiring five people this month i'm going t

alicia and chrystia, let me ask you quickly.eney not showing up contrasting with clinton giving the primetime speech? >> it means the toxicity hasn't worn off. they are staying away as much for themselves as for the party. >> you know, i think it also shows something quite surprising for me about the top republicans. and we saw this in the cheney/palin fight that broke out. they are known for being the well organized, unified team. and i've been surprised at the level of public bickering we've seen into the campaign. this should be an election easy for the republicans to win. the economy after all is incredibly weak. >> the fact that bill clinton and barack obama is going to give this picture of unity and bush and cheney cannot do that, clearly gives an advantage to the president. but do you also think the fact there's such statements made in the last day or so with cheney and palin divides the party. >> cheney saying palin was a mace take? >> yeah. >> i was surprised. >> but she does have a constituency in the republican party.

. ♪ >>> we are back with zanny minton beddoes of "the economist,"" zachary karabell, chrystia freelandand larry kudlow. zanny, the thing about europe that surprises me is everybody says it's going to blow up. and somehow it doesn't. i mean, things are a mess, bond yields go up, it's harder for them to borrow, and there has v to be some emergency -- at the end of the day -- >> every one of those 19 summit that's been there to pull us back from the precipice has indeed pulled us back from the precipice. you're rht. it's true that over time maybe you get a sense of, oh, well, it's another summit, another crisis, we're going to go to the edge and we'll put it off. the situation has been getting unremittingly worse. the european economy, as many of them, in free fall. the recession is deepening. the policy view is, in my view, is completely mad. the sense of the lack of confidence in the future of the eurozone is deepening. there's a complete investor strike of people no longer willing to invest in italy, spain, or peripheral economies because they have no sense of whether the euro will hol

we're now joined by chrystia freeland. a lot of attention recently about the fund raising of the presidential campaigns and thousand obama campaign is bei outfundraised in the last couple of months. i think the untold story until now is how this might affect. your thoughts? >> i think you're right. i think the story that we're seeing is that the right, the republicans have more money. i think senator brown put it very well. if you look at the economic map of america today, it's the billionaires, it's the people at the top who are winning and have the resources and the 99% and their organized representatives like labor unions are not doing so well in the economy today. so the people are the resources have raelzed they have an ability for that money in politics. we focus on the presidential race because it's a single very important race, but i think what we're seeing is in a way, a million dollars, $5 million, to get more bang for your buck if you spend it in a single senator race and that's what they're doing cht. >> it's c

chrystia i did not know you were wearing orangutan when i made the joke.oth for joining us. have a nice weekend. >>> still ahead, the first lady, spongebob squarepants and best wishes to the athletes at the olympic games. stay with us. [ female announcer ] the power to become a better investor has gone mobile. with features like scanning a barcode to get detailed stock quotes to voice recognition. e-trade leads the way in wherever, whenever investing. download the ultimate in mobile investing apps, free, at e-trade. ovider is differentultimate in mobile investing apps, free, but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. >>> tonight the eyes of the world are on london where athletes across the globe are gathering for the opening of the 2012 olympics. first lady michelle obama is there trying to loosen up competitors before the big games. everyone cheering them on as well. she had a morning with kids in london. and a few minutes earlier, the first

. >> we're now joined by chrystia freeland.f attention recently including here on "hardball" the last couple of nights, talking about the fund-raising of the presidential campaigns and how the obama campaign is being outfundraised in the last couple of missouris by the forces for governor romney. i think opportunity told story until now is how this might impact congress am. senatorial and house races likely just went through with senator brown. your thoughts? >> yeah. i think you are absolutely right. i think the story that we're seeing is that the right, the republicans have more money. i think senator brown put it very well. if you look at the economic map of america today, it's the billionaires, it's the people at the top who are winning and have the resources and the 99% and their organized representatives like labor unions are not doing so well in the economy today. so the people are the resources thanks to the supreme court decision, realized they have an unlimited ability to pour that money into politics. we focus on the

we heard mark zandi and chrystia freeland suggestions for fixing the economy. here's mine.olitically feasible way to create a million jobs in three years. are you ready? first of all let's acknowledge that our politically divided country is going to mean that no big plan is going to get through congress. so instead let's go around congress. let's head right to the states where we can incentivize job creation from the bottom up, from the ground up. here's what i mean. the education race to the top was one of the most successful initiatives of the obama administration. it was loved by both republican and democratic governs. it inspired 48 states to eagerly voluntarily weapon over backwards to raise curriculum standards. how? by using the incentive of a $4.5 billion pot of federal money, and making the states compete for it. $4.5 million. that's almost a rounding error in the federal judgment. the countries' education landscape changed all at the state level. for years, for decades, the fight over raising education curriculum standards was at a standstill. but suddenly in one