Santelli: "Stop Spending!"

[joeydb]

This guy has it right:
http://www.therightscoop.com/santell...ng-open-thread

[Riot]

Originally Posted by joeydb

This guy has it right:
http://www.therightscoop.com/santell...ng-open-thread

Yes, because that has worked so very well in the past during other recessions

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by Riot

Yes, because that has worked so very well in the past during other recessions

There are many who believe that Keynesian spending, especially at a high level, actually lengthens recessions rather than shortening them.

So yeah, it may well be that belt tightening is our best option, your sarcasm notwithstanding.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by joeydb

There are many who believe that Keynesian spending, especially at a high level, actually lengthens recessions rather than shortening them.

Yes, I've heard economists debate that. Can you give us one example where stopping spending has worked?

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by Riot

Yes, I've heard economists debate that. Can you give us one example where stopping spending has worked?

Well, it's admittedly tough to measure "what would have happened if we did the opposite" - spending or not spending.

But you would think that macroeconomic theory would at least have a basis in lower scale economics. If you were heavily indebted to the point of going insolvent, would you keep spending, even assuming you could find someone to loan you the money?

At a minimum, the spending to get out of a recession is counterintuitive. It at least has to be examined closely. For example, if the amount to spend is only 3% of GDP, it's probably a low risk. But on our current course, the debt will consume 87% of our GDP by 2020. That is a recipe for disaster.

[Riot]

The debt is unsustainable, and even those spending know it. But is right now the time to freeze all spending?

One of the reasons healthcare reform was pushed through now rather than later is for the economic impact - as it's a sixth of the economy, it's a longterm attempt to save trillions in the future, and to help medicare/medicade too.

In the immediate short term, we need jobs. People have to stay alive - to not be homeless, to eat. People with income spend. Spending grows the economy, ends the recession.

It takes money to create jobs out of nothing in a stagnant economy with no growth and 10% unemployment.

There will be no jobs created, as this week our government - the GOP primarily - wants zero spending, thus is blocking the jobs bill. Further unemployment extended benefits have been fillibustered - by the GOP - so now we have hundreds of thousands of people that haven't had a job for months on end, and still have no job prospects, but now have no money to minimally eat and live. It was literally cut off this week (last week I think) Tax cuts won't help these folks.

So we are not going to spend, and add to the deficit, and these people are literally sitting there this week with no food. In America.

No more spending - not one dime - is the line in the stand the GOP has drawn this past month. It's the hill they have chosen to die upon. You want no spending, Joey, it's happening.

The rest of the G20 agrees (with caveats). We'll see how that works out, for our country and the world. I think it's gonna get very, very ugly.