On the heels of a grim forecast by Fannie Mae, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shifted more pressure to policymakers at home and overseas by revising expectations for global GDP growth to 4 percent over 2011 and into next year, with calls for more relief and debt-cutting measures. The forecast stressed more attention for U.S. housing markets and highlighted the need for demand.

Publishing its findings in a World Economic Outlook, the international financial institution gutted growth expectations over heightened concerns about a debt contagion in euro zone markets and an economic slowdown in the U.S., where ratings agency Standard & Poor’s lowered creditworthiness ratings in August over political gridlock.

The IMF coupled the threat of a global economic slowdown with heavy policy prescriptions that ran from a close endorsement of the American Jobs Act to more urgent demands for medium-term deficit-slashing measures.

“Strong policies are urgently needed to improve the outlook and to reduce the risks,” Olivier Blanchard, chief economist for the IMF, said in a statement. “Only if governments move decisively on fiscal policy, financial repairs, and external rebalancing, can we hope for stronger and more robust recovery.”

More woes await advanced and industrialized economies, according to the institution, which underscored predictions for a 1.4-percent growth rate among countries like the United States.

The institution referenced the U.S. housing sector on several occasions, calling for a buildup in home loan resolution programs, continued lows for interest rates, and an expansion in the credit supply nationally.

Speaking with MReport, Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies with the Cato Institute, faults the heavy policy prescriptions as part and parcel of a “Keynesian argument that reducing deficits will contract the economy.” He calls the suggestion “wrong, largely based upon the fact that households see government debt as future taxes, and hence a reduction in the deficit can actually increase consumer spending.”

He also waves away notions about the American Jobs Act, which he says will “not increase hiring by any significant amount” with extensions for payroll tax cuts alone. “Employers care about the long run [sic] costs of hiring, especially in an environment of uncertain demand.”

Commenting on the need for jobs creation in the economy, Vance Ginn, a lecturer in economics with Sam Houston State University and founder of Marginally Beneficial, says “people aren’t willing to hire because of the uncertainty going around the future, be it from higher energy prices or health care costs or new regulations.”

He describes the American Jobs Act as the fourth such stimulus measure in three years, and draws attention to “ridiculous” decisions by the Fed to keep interest rates at historic lows until 2013.

“Our markets are based on expectations,” Ginn tells MReport. “People aren’t investing because interest rates are at historic lows,” creating a disincentive that prevents investment that would boost sales and economic activity.

“We need to start raising interest rates,” he says.