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Politics : View from the Center and Left

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To: Steve Lokness who wrote (103208)	2/5/2009 11:46:44 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) of 542085

Any "economist" who thinks this "choice" accurately reflects the debate among economists today simply doesn't deserve whatever doctorate he/she received. That's my point. Consider two different government programs for stimulating the economy. The first program borrows $819 billion and hires and pays groups of workers $819 billion to dig a bunch of holes and then fill them in. The second program spends $819 billion to repair a bunch of bridges on the verge of collapse, repair a bunch of sewers about to go bad, and revolutionize the energy and health sectors. I think most economists would argue that the first program would be a bad use of federal money at a time when we're already running a growing budget deficit. Yes, it would put money in the hands of workers but the effect on the non-hole-digging part of the economy would be insufficient to justify increasing the future taxes necessary to repay the borrowing that financed the program. Most economists would also agree that the second program would be a bargain that would yield benefits well beyond the money put in the hands of those executing the project.

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