Comments for Theory, Stimulus, Unemployed Workers and Unemployed Politicians at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 11 out of 11 comments http://www.cepr.net Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:57:12 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1079 Meanwhile, these two, (at least Brooks), had no trouble trumpeting the theoretical stimulus effect of the budget busting Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Even now, in the after-math of the Bush economic disaster, they refuse to "see" the correlation. It must be SS and Medicare. - zinc Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:46:04 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1076 [i]What is a mild-mannered politician concerned about getting re-elected supposed to do? Well, there are theories about this as well. Most of them show that politicians do very badly in their quest for re-election in periods of high unemployment. So, it is not clear that the proponents of stimulus are asking politicians to take too great a risk when they suggest hooking up the fire hose and trying more stimulus.[/i] It is too hard for people to understand that Governments are not subject to the same spending constraints as people are. Also jealousy is a factor, people in the private sector often view Government jobs like lottery winnings where the lucky few that get Gov. jobs get early semi-retirement with hiring to grave care. So they say Gov. should have to belt tighten like the rest of us. Therefore IMO competitive free banking is the only solution. With competitive free banking the median voter need not know about money. - floccina Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:37:50 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1075 I wonder who criticized the free marketeers who, for the last three decades (at least) made HUGE changes in how our economic world works based on their theories of unfettered markets? Now, all of a sudden, a stimulus is a "theory." Let's compare the costs of another stimulus to the costs of laissez-faire (which, of course, never really existed). - Randy Fritz Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:22:01 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1072 to all those out there who think that this recent economic crisis was caused by govt. interference, well, if we had left the stock market and the housing market all to themselves we'd be pretty much in the same predicament. the crowds, the market, can be pretty stupid - andy Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:42:03 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1071 I am off topic bu because your website does not generate a lot of comment I hope you (Dean Baker) will notice and drive a movement. Pete Peterson got a big old wet kiss in my local newspaper (Oregonian) today on the editorial page. They got a shill law firm to write an editorial publicizing usabudgetdiscussion.org. An astroturf effort by Peterson to give heft to his cat food commission. I joined as an "online ambassador" to try to destroy it from within. Hopefully you will note this organization and get other bloggers from the left involved. - Don Beal Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:12:36 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1070 The most obvious parallel that comes to mind with Ross Douthat's and David Brooks's ill-informed and hypocritical screeds is that of religious right-wingers decrying evolutionary theory. The "It's Just a Theory" condemnation of evolutionary theory has been around at least since the Scopes "Monkey" trial of 1925. Creationists — renamed "Intelligent Design" advocates — still grasp at the "just a theory" line, but not as much as they used to. Maybe Douthat and Brooks will eventually catch up to the Creationists. - Hugh Sansom Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:09:17 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1069 izzatso gives the Randian arguments as a satire, but the "real" Randian arguments by Greenspan in the WSJ are funnier. - skeptonomist Mon, 21 Jun 2010 04:07:33 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1068 If enslaving 15 million workers to perform unproductive work (the draft) and lowering the standard of living of the remainder to one not seen in 30 years is what an economy needs to be pulled out of depression, might as well follow Mellon's "Liquidate! Liquidate! Liquidate!" advice. - Ellen1910 Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:59:41 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1066 Leave it to a stupid liberal like Baker to ignore the heritage of Factual Reality grounded in Constitutional Originalism that has guided the US to prosperity for over 200 years free of socialist theory. For example: 1) Japan is just a theory. It doesn't actually exist as a verifiable fact. It's a mirage, an hallucination. It couldn't possibly exist given its unsustainable ratio of debt to GNP and the absence of inflation, and that's a fact, not a theory. 2)The WWII spending claimed to pull the US out of a depression in the '40s is just a theory. What really did it was pent up savings during the war which created a spike in aggregate consumption under the pre-Keynes theory of Say's Law where demand equals supply at full employment at all times, and that's a fact, not a theory. 3) The sun rotates around the earth and the earth is flat, and if you don't believe it, walk outside and see for yourself. That's a fact, not a theory. No need to rely on some socialist Enlightenment Age Theory that claims otherwise. 4) The BP oil spill was caused by the prohibition of drilling in ANWR, volcanoes cause global warming, Hitler was a vegetarian therefore all vegetarians are Nazis, corporations are persons therefore all persons have equal economic freedom, stimulus spending doesn't create jobs because it crowds out other jobs in a deep recession. These are facts, not theories. There's only one objective reality pursued by all as demonstrated years ago by Ayn Rand, grounded in rational self interest that is predictable and therefore creates maximum economic welfare and stability in the absence of government interference, and that's a fact, not a theory. - izzatzo Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:24:44 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1065 According to http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has spent only around half of its funding: Spent, Category, (Total authorized) 163, Tax Benefits, (288) 132, Entitlements, (224) 115, Contracts, grants, and loans, (275) So a good chunk of the water is still in the hose. - AndrewDover Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:20:03 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/theory-stimulus-unemployed-workers-and-unemployed-politicians/#comment-1064 Nice post, but you shouldn't just play defense here. Economists, and especially libertarians, have no problems recommending policy based on "theory." Often this theory isn't as well established or applicable as the physics of fire hoses. In fact, there is often massive evidence to these theories or the assumptions on which they rely. You should have given examples of this. - Jake Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:14:38 +0100