Posted on 06/26/2010 5:59:46 AM PDT by shove_it
Spending our way to prosperity is going out of style.
Today's G-20 meeting has been advertised as a showdown between the U.S. and Europe over more spending "stimulus," and so it is. But the larger story is the end of the neo-Keynesian economic moment, and perhaps the start of a healthier policy turn.
For going on three years, the developed world's economic policy has been dominated by the revival of the old idea that vast amounts of public spending could prevent deflation, cure a recession, and ignite a new era of government-led prosperity. It hasn't turned out that way.
Now the political and fiscal bills are coming due even as the U.S. and European economies are merely muddling along. The Europeans have had enough and want to swear off the sauce, while the Obama Administration wants to keep running a bar tab. So this would seem to be a good time to examine recent policy history and assess the results.
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(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
They will never change.
As certain countries are discovering these days via the bond markets, even governments sometimes have no choice.
Margaret Thatcher was absolutely right. Eventually, you run out of other people's money.
I see it differently. I think the snow-job of propaganda in destroying confidence caused the downturn.
Economic prosperity is all about confidence. If a political/media coalition finds the key to changing a nation's mindset they've got economic power and can pave the way to a dictator.
Remember that nobama’s overarching goal is destroying the US economy.
He could care less what the G20, or anybody else for that matter thinks.
He is hell bent on being the USA dictator. In order to do that he needs to drive us down. The quickest way to do that is to destroy the economy.
Look at his “major” accomplishments: taking over GM and Chrysler, nobamacare, diddling while the oil gushes, czars, doing little about illegal, criminal immigration, creating a huge deficit, etc. All designed to trash the economy.
He’s a man on a mission with a compliant Congress: destroy the USA.
A perfect storm is developing for the US. An aging society (10,000 people retiring a day for the next 20 years), Ponzi scheme entitlement programs, immigration policies that import poverty, two wars, and out of control spending for decades have placed us in this position. Obama's policies have made them much worse.
Economic properity is much more than confidence. The numbers don't lie.
And numbers reflect confidence, obviously. When you have huge swathes of the population dependent on the dole without the corresponding revenue you have fear, not confidence.
Yes, of course there will be downturns. However, some are much more prolonged than they should be because certain politicians GET their power when the economy is in the dumps.
I have no doubt that Pelosi & Co. (aka the MSM) lied to push the downturn down much lower than it had to go. And they keep it down now because they will not benefit if things ease. Easing would be an indication that business is hiring...in other words the private sector is gaining confidence again. They DON'T want that because the private sector is not their consituency...GOV'T is.
Add to this an immigration policy that brings in 1.2 million legal immigrants a year, most of whom are poor and uneducated, plus another 500,000 to 1 million illegals. We are bringing in 125,000 legal foreign workers A MONTH right now while 25 million Americans look for full time employment.
125,000 brand new foreign workers with work permits each month -- HERE'S THE PROOF
I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make.
And thus the disconnect between academia and reality is exposed. Reality shows that increasing federal spending actually decreases GDP. Reality also shows that increasing the minimum wage increases unemployment and decreases GDP. But then the ivory tower idiots that are currently in power are blind to the lessons of actual experience.
We have all been aware of the entitlement problems for years.
These problems have been exacerbated in a frightening way by this administration which has loaded us with another huge entitlement (healthcare) which the Dems and MSM have pushed mercilessly and they drove down the economy to get it.
It's the same thing that happened under FDR and prolonged the depression. Sure there were economic problems then, but those could have been alleviated by easing draconian punishments on business. You will never have an improved situation by punishing business which is the very engine to improve economies.
But socialists WANT it this way...as did FDR. They pushed hard for a much steeper downturn than was warrented in '08 to GET power and to MAKE IT WORSE.
In answer to your question...where's the money coming from? We will not have enough to pay for unsustainable entitlements. Spending cuts are going to come. I believe that the terrifying way this adminstration is running things will give the next President the political capital to make them, happen; if one thinks it's not possible one should look at Europe which is accomplishing cuts even though many said it would never happen there.
And we have done nothing about it. By 2014, 45% of all Medicare expenditures will come from the General Fund. By law, 75% of the costs for Medicare Parts B and D come from the General Fund.
These problems have been exacerbated in a frightening way by this administration which has loaded us with another huge entitlement (healthcare) which the Dems and MSM have pushed mercilessly and they drove down the economy to get it.
Yep, we just added another huge entitlement program. Bush gave us Medicare Part D, Prescription Drugs, which represents an $8 trillion unfunded liability. That was passed by a Rep-controlled Congress. And Bush tried to get an amnesty passed, which would have destroyed this country with the stroke of a pen. Amnesty passed in the senate in 2006 [Hagel-Martinez], but was killed by the House. Bush tried again in 2007 with McCain-Kennedy.
In answer to your question...where's the money coming from? We will not have enough to pay for unsustainable entitlements. Spending cuts are going to come.
The spending cuts are going to have to come from the entitlement programs otherwise nothing will change. If nothing is done with the entitlement programs, they will consume over 70% of the federal budget by 2060 and that is not counting Obamacare.
The question is whether we will have the political will to make such cuts. Will seniors, government employees, and others vote for politicians who will gut their benefits? In Greece, they demonstrated against such cuts even if it meant the country would go down the tubes. We have some very hard and difficult decisions to make as a country. I don't see many politicians with the courage to make them nor do I see many Americans willing to make the sacrifices necessary. Almost half the people in the country pay no income taxes.
We all know this.
The question is whether we will have the political will to make such cuts
Already addressed in my previous post.
In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree. Today there are 3.3, and by 2030 there will be two. We are leaving our children and grandchildren with a very bleak future.
The government takes it (literally), pockets a little for itself, then passes it step by step on down the food chain, each and every bureaucratic step taking a little bit for itself. For administrative expenses, doncha know.
That's Keynesian trickle down. They take your money at the point of a gun and by the time they give it back to you to "stimulate the economy" it has trickled down to pennies on the dollar.
I did address it.
Re-read the last paragraph of the post I cited.
BM
Nothing will change.
The same Totalitarians might stop spending AS much for a little while but the same morons will vote for the same Totalitarians over and over again.
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