Comments on: Basic Economics: What Works, What Doesn’t

By: Dr J

Dr J — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:38:56 +0000

Reagan and Bush Sr. both put downward pressure on taxes and spending, though Clinton takes the trophy for fiscal responsibility. And post-Bush Jr, everyone seems to be back to their traditional roles, with the right advocating fiscal responsibility, the left trying to dismiss them as wicked. Which, golly, is pretty much what you're doing.

But Mr. Silverstein's post wasn't about parties, it was about noticing that individuals tend to spend money less wastefully than the government. If you've been hanging with leftists, I can imagine this coming as a surprise, but the rest of us simply recognize it as eternal and continually proved truth.

By: Lit3Bolt

Lit3Bolt — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:40:31 +0000

Dr J, I'd be perfectly happy if the Republicans cut taxes and cut spending, too. But no, ever since Reagan, it's been cut taxes+raise spending=We Win Elections!

By: galtin86

galtin86 — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:53:02 +0000

“The government wanted overall consumer spending to increase. The major effort to bring this about has involved sinking literally trillions of dollars into the banking sector to encourage banks to lend more so consumers could spend more. The banking sector has been “stabilized” by these initiatives, but banks didn’t turn around and lend out what they were given,”

Maybe true, but it certainly prevented a further contraction of credit. The bailouts may be distasteful, but it's really hard to deny that they prevented a collapse in the availability of credit. And by the way, the purpose of increasing credit is to help businesses invest, with the fact that it helps consumers as a somewhat nice side-effect.

By: adelinesdad

adelinesdad — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:20:04 +0000

"Give money directly to targeted consumers"

So essentially, you want the government to say, "If you won't spend money, we'll take it from you and give it to someone who will." You may be right that this is the quickest way to stimulate the economy, but is it worth it?

That's not even to mention the fact that the people getting the money are the least likely to actually need it.

I happen to have just posted on this topic: http://sovereignmind.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/c...

By: Dr J

Dr J — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:19:50 +0000

And a Republican is born. Go ahead and say it: tax cuts.

By: JSpencer

JSpencer — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:04:07 +0000

Nailed it!