Monday, January 07, 2013

Not a Caricature, Not the Onion

I often get criticized (yes, me!) for "caricaturing" the Keynesian view of the multiplier and job creation.  To be fair, Keynes himself was circumspect.  But the Keynesians are quite clear.

Here is an acolyte, making the straightforward argument that unemployement creates jobs, as long as we PAY people to be unemployed.  It gets good after about 2:50...



Hilda Solis is the US Sec'y of Labor.  She apparently wants to be the Sec'y of Unemployment.  Employed workers aren't docile enough, and they might vote the wrong way.  But unemployed folks, getting other peoples' money in the mail?  THOSE are Democrats.

Nod to William H., and to Pretense of Knowledge.

2 comments:

Tom said...

Even before 2:50, CNBC showed a chart of the dramatic decline in Unemployment Rate... dramatic until you check the scale: the vertical axis runs from 7.6 to 8.4. Likewise, Average Hourly Earnings looks GREAT... but scale is 19.6 to 20.

Sec. Solis claims the multiplier for government's largess is 2.0. I want to ask her for the multiplier associated with the spending of burglars and muggers. Surely it's 4.0 or even 6.1, 'cause those dopes who had that loot are also replacing their lost property!

Vote D&R for "prosperity thru theft"!

Anonymous said...

As of 9:39CST, the video does not seem to be available. :(