It's OK. I sometimes get riled up about politics too.
I agree, to spend is to tax. But to spend even more is to tax even more. I'm sure additional stimulus dollars would be money far better spent than the money we have spent burning Iraq and Afghanistan to the ground, but the fact remains that additional stimulus spending must be additionally paid back some day. The chief question in my mind is whether the return on those additional dollars would be worth the price.
I think you may be overestimating the extent to which outright Republican lies, numerous though they are, are affecting consensus on this issue among economists. For example, there are many non-Keynesians out there who disagree with the assertion that high government spending can counteract a recession.
I must confess, though, I don't have my ear to the ground as well as I would like on this topic. Kind of makes you wish that there was a Cliff's notes for recent updates in the outlook of experts and academics on various important topics. My understanding is that Krugman's outlook typically differs somewhat from most economists' beliefs (as surely it would with Mankiw's arguments in the linked article), but perhaps that is not the case re: additional stimulus spending?
> And almost all of those non-Keynesians [perhaps a better term would be anti-Keynesians] are wrong.
Hmm, you seem to be claiming a either conclusive proof that Keynesianism is correct or disproof of Monetarism, new classical macroeconomics, and the Austrian school, etc. Either of these would be news to me. Am I reading you wrong?
I agree, to spend is to tax. But to spend even more is to tax even more. I'm sure additional stimulus dollars would be money far better spent than the money we have spent burning Iraq and Afghanistan to the ground, but the fact remains that additional stimulus spending must be additionally paid back some day. The chief question in my mind is whether the return on those additional dollars would be worth the price.
I think you may be overestimating the extent to which outright Republican lies, numerous though they are, are affecting consensus on this issue among economists. For example, there are many non-Keynesians out there who disagree with the assertion that high government spending can counteract a recession.
I must confess, though, I don't have my ear to the ground as well as I would like on this topic. Kind of makes you wish that there was a Cliff's notes for recent updates in the outlook of experts and academics on various important topics. My understanding is that Krugman's outlook typically differs somewhat from most economists' beliefs (as surely it would with Mankiw's arguments in the linked article), but perhaps that is not the case re: additional stimulus spending?