NYTimes: Deficits Help the Economy

Meredith Jessup | August 30, 2009 3:54 PM

Apparently they're not just drinking the koolaid over at the New York Times; they're drowning themselves in it. NYTimes op-ed "columnist" Paul Krugman had an

interesting op-ed published last Thursday in which he argued Obama's projected $9 trillion deficit over the next decade is "actually helping the economy. In fact, deficits here and in other major economies saved the world from a much deeper slump."

Say what?

The only real reason for concern is political. The United States can deal with its debts if politicians of both parties are, in the end, willing to show at least a bit of maturity.

Riiiiight. We don't have to worry about our taxes going up to pay for this monstrous debt! We don't need to worry about today's politicians spending tomorrow's future away! Nooo, not according to Krugman, who argues that "it's good to run a deficit."

Consider what would have happened if the U.S. government and its counterparts around the world had tried to balance their budgets as they did in the early 1930s. It’s a scary thought.

Well, I don't think he has to worry about that; politicians in Washington today don't bother with "balanced budgets." Krugman's logic is so illogical, but actually turns comical when he claims

[W]e would be better off if governments were willing to run even larger deficits over the next year or two. ...But what about all that debt we’re incurring? That’s a bad thing, but it’s important to have some perspective. Economists normally assess the sustainability of debt by looking at the ratio of debt to G.D.P. And while $9 trillion is a huge sum, we also have a huge economy, which means that things aren’t as scary as you might think. ...

So don’t fret about this year’s deficit; we actually need to run up federal debt right now and need to keep doing it until the economy is on a solid path to recovery. And the extra debt should be manageable. If we face a potential problem, it’s not because the economy can’t handle the extra debt. Instead, it’s the politics, stupid.

Only the NYTimes would purposefully put on these rose-colored glasses to look at the unprecedented amounts of debt being recklessly racked-up today by the federal government (and a lot of states, too!).

So ignore those mean conservatives and their annoying complaints about how "unsustainable" the government's spending levels are! Have another glass of koolaid... glub, glub.