Wednesday, December 24, 2008
'Trying to create a Christmas tree out of this'
Here's why I think Obama's $1 trillion economic stimulus bill will probably fail: It's not an economic stimulus bill. It's becoming a classic Congressional Christmas tree. It's exactly what Tom Friedman is warning about: "If we allow this money to be spent on pork, it will be the end of us." ... It's also why I fear we're about to enter a 'lost decade,' similar to what Japan went through in the '90s. ... One of the more fascinating aspects of the current financial crisis has been the return of Keynesian economics. Keynes went out of fashion partly because his adherents took his spending ideas too far, not unlike supply-side adherents taking tax-cut ideas too far. There's often a hidden agenda behind such abuses -- socialism (for big spenders), laissez-faire (for tax cutters), hackerama (for the Ted Stevens) and save the world (for environmentalists), etc. It's what Obama should be guarding against. But if there's already infighting within his inner circle about how to spend the money, imagine what it's going to look like after Congress gets its hands on $1 trillion.
Here's why I think Obama's $1 trillion economic stimulus bill will probably fail: It's not an economic stimulus bill. It's becoming a classic Congressional Christmas tree. It's exactly what Tom Friedman is warning about: "If we allow this money to be spent on pork, it will be the end of us." ... It's also why I fear we're about to enter a 'lost decade,' similar to what Japan went through in the '90s. ... One of the more fascinating aspects of the current financial crisis has been the return of Keynesian economics. Keynes went out of fashion partly because his adherents took his spending ideas too far, not unlike supply-side adherents taking tax-cut ideas too far. There's often a hidden agenda behind such abuses -- socialism (for big spenders), laissez-faire (for tax cutters), hackerama (for the Ted Stevens) and save the world (for environmentalists), etc. It's what Obama should be guarding against. But if there's already infighting within his inner circle about how to spend the money, imagine what it's going to look like after Congress gets its hands on $1 trillion.
