David in D

The Recovery Was Too Expensive

Nice article Chris. I'm curious though, your metaphor of taking a pay cut then borrowing to fill in the gap seems a bit simplistic here. The borrowing, in the case of the nation, comes from itself. While I agree that the fiscal crisis will probably not lead to serious reform, and while it probably cost more than it needed to, I think it is hard to quantify the downside of a crisis. In other words, it is easy (as you admit in your Monday morning quarterback comment) to sit back and say "we are really getting only limited value from this bailout" but this is really an impossible statement; isn't it? How do you know what might have happened if the fed's actions hadn't been taken?

In general, I'm in agreement with you. But I get a little annoyed on Seeking Alpha with all the "ditto heads" and permabears and really, perhaps Bernanke deserves some real kudos. Who knows, my point is we cannot.

We are but fallible humans (actually meaning-making animals) seeking to do the best we can for ourselves in our social contracts. I think it's better to live in gratefulness for what has been done than perenial cynicism.

Confidence Games and Ponzi Schemes: No Way to Run the World's Largest Economy

Zmartmoney, perhaps you should take another look at Tim's graphs. You will note that it has been the supposed "conservatives" who have expanded the deficit most aggressively. Are you for more "trickle down" economics? It is precisely the wealth gap, generated under conservatives, that has contributed most decisively to the American economic meltdown. So yes, we need the pendulum to swing back towards sanity a bit after the last 30 years... but of course, no one on Fox News is going to tell you that.


On Aug 07 11:22 AM Zmartmoney wrote:

> The liberal/socialist agenda emanating from Washington requires that
> we be awash in easy money. How else will they pay to have most of
> the people sitting in the wagon, and the remaining few pushing?
> The liberal mindset seeks to have wealth for all, taken from those
> with "too much" and generously distributed by an all-knowing, wise,
> benevolent government master to those with "too little." Along the
> way, it wouldn't hurt if the wise masters were able to corner the
> market on power, which would allow them to spread their wisdom that
> much further. Liberals love to castigate conservatives for their
> "stinginess." In truth, that stinginess is actually self-preservation
> - the ant storing harvest for the coming winter, instead of the foolish
> grasshopper who wants to party till the snow comes. Children's stories
> are still quite useful for demonstrating enduring truths of life.
> There is no free lunch - there is only that one taken from someone
> else. Who are you going to take yours from? Welcome to socialism.
> This party can't stop - Washington can't afford for it to, as there
> are way too many things they want to spend money on first, remaking
> America in their image. BTW - don't mistakenly assume that Liberal
> means Democrat and Conservative means Republican. Look at the last
> decade that was run by Republicans and show me Conservatives in leadership
> positions. Party on dude...