In an otherwise sensible post explaining how capacity utilization is back to normal while industrial output lags behind trend, Matt says something truly remarkable:
"This highlights the very real and very high costs of achieving economic recovery by simply letting things run their course."
Wait, what?
Maybe Matt and I are subjects in different simulations, but I don't think that's what happened at all.
What about the nearly $800 billion stimulus?
What about bailing out GM?
What about "cash for clunkers"?
What about cutting the payroll tax for two years?
What about extending the Bush tax cuts?
What about the repeated extension of unemployment benefits?
"Simply letting things run their course" is about the last thing that's actually happened in the past 4 years.
4 comments:
I took the "run its course" comment to be criticism of the Fed, which has refused to adopt stimulative policies except to avert outright deflation.
Really? QE 1 and 2? Non-existent interest? Operation Twist? Most of the suggestions for the Fed "doing more" at this point seem rather pie in the sky.
I thought the throwing money away at unreasonable levels was the government running its course.
What about the +$5 trillion in debt? Isn't that stimulus too??
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