IMF Gives the Feds, Small Businesses a Warning

The International Monetary Fund sent a message to the U.S. government today—cut the deficit or risk the nation's economic survival.

In a first-of-its-kind report, the IMF made the kind of suggestions politicians are normally scared to make. Seemingly "third-rail" programs as Social Security and the tax break given to home owners for their mortgages should all be on the table for cuts, according to a Washington Post story about the report.

Plus, the IMF said, whatever recovery the nation thinks it's having right now might drift away. And it could take small businesses with it. Here's how the Post characterized the impact: "Small- and medium-size firms, clustered on the West Coast and in the South, are at particular risk from what may be a trillion dollars worth of bad loans for offices and other commercial buildings, IMF officials said in a briefing."

Looking at the next two years, the IMF predicted U.S. growth of 3.3 percent for this year and 2.9 percent for next year. However, it said unemployment would remain above 9 percent through 2011.

For more on the IMF's warning to U.S. officials, click here for a story by Reuters.