Really well done. Very sharp analysis and you put together disparate parts of public policy quite nicely. Are you sure you weren't an economist in a previous life? I bet you'd be a Keynesian.
Yes, one though that monetarism and the excesses of the supply-side had been discredited long ago and we all became Keynesian in the 90s (ie, the government should save and not overstimulate the economy when growth is high, and then should spend and stimulate the economy when growth is low or negative). But both now and then, those who espouse these views do so not on the basis of sound economic policy but rather on political grounds. They forget that the two main features upon which any economic policy should be evaluated is not just efficiency but equity. And sometimes intergenrational equity needs to be considered. Are we going to spend up big and just leave it to future generations to clean up our mess? They are trying to put one over on the American people but luckily there are enough conscientious participants like you to hopefully stop them. Let's hope that this goes the way of the failed health care reforms of the 90s.
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Date: 15 Feb 2005 03:10 am (UTC)Yes, one though that monetarism and the excesses of the supply-side had been discredited long ago and we all became Keynesian in the 90s (ie, the government should save and not overstimulate the economy when growth is high, and then should spend and stimulate the economy when growth is low or negative). But both now and then, those who espouse these views do so not on the basis of sound economic policy but rather on political grounds. They forget that the two main features upon which any economic policy should be evaluated is not just efficiency but equity. And sometimes intergenrational equity needs to be considered. Are we going to spend up big and just leave it to future generations to clean up our mess? They are trying to put one over on the American people but luckily there are enough conscientious participants like you to hopefully stop them. Let's hope that this goes the way of the failed health care reforms of the 90s.