Quote of the Day for Monday, Nov. 29th, 2010:
The ever-delightful Ed Morrissey over at HotAir, commenting today on Keynesian economics:
Think of it as a Cash for Clunkers economic plan on a larger scale. The intention is to fool people into spending money in order to give the illusion of growth, and have that illusion somehow become reality through a process best known as FM; the M stands for “magic,” and you can guess what the F means. The problem is that the interventions run out of steam quickly without addressing the actual issues of income and asset value that drives organic consumer spending. Instead of increasing the size of the pie, we just cut it in different shapes.
Morrissey could have added something about the long-term stifling effect of increased debt, or the ricochet effect of post-stimulus market forces tending back toward stabilization and equilibrium, but why quibble?
I couldn’t pronounce this woman’s name to save my life, but she does a serviceable job here of explaining how the politicians get it wrong. The next question is this: why do they so consistently get it wrong, and who is benefiting from that persistence? Honestly, I don’t see who does. Why the infatuation with consumer spending? Is there a political angle to that I’m not seeing? The pork angle I get. The consumer spending angle, I don’t.
