Free Republic

If our Washington, D.C., readers noticed a cortege of blue suits carrying a casket in front of the Brookings Institution last week, be not mournful. You were merely watching the leading economists of the Democratic Party burying the faith once known as Rubinomics. May it rest in peace. Rubinomics...Lower the federal budget deficit and, as dawn follows night, interest rates will fall and prosperity will break upon the land... Mr. Rubin's successor at Treasury, Larry Summers, started the bidding with a $65 billion tax rebate and spending plan. Hillary Clinton saw that and raised, and now wants $40 billion in...

More than two years after the October 1929 stock market crash and in the depth of the ensuing depression, a commission originally established by the Republican-chaired Senate Banking and Currency Committee to prepare the party's official defense for the upcoming presidential election finally began in March 1932 to examine the causes of the market crash and to recommend reforms to prevent future recurrences...SNIP... The implosion of Rubinomics It was Robert Rubin, special economic assistant to Clinton and later Treasury secretary, who worked out what has come to be known as Rubinomics, the strategy of dollar hegemony through the promotion of...

As far as economic recoveries go, the current one may be the most maligned in history. One glaring weakness, which pessimists never tire of pointing out, is that payroll job growth in this cycle has been weaker than in the 1990s. Over the past three years, payroll jobs have grown at an average monthly rate of 180,000. At the same point in the previous cycle (1994-96) payrolls grew at an average monthly rate of 244,000. But don’t despair. While the data is accurate, it is highly misleading. After digging beneath the surface, the jobs market is just as strong today...

With all the talk about record deficits – both budget deficits and trade deficits, I think it makes sense to discuss some common misconceptions, especially among Democrats who subscribe to Rubinomics. The basic argument is that a higher long-run budget deficit reduces national savings. The reduction in savings implies a higher interest rate as the government competes with firms for limited investment funds. The main problem with the argument is that it is not true and historical evidence does not support it. During the 1970s, U.S. budget deficits were well under control yet interest rates were rising dramatically. Conversely, during...

<p>Now that President Bush has a new economic team, we keep reading that their first obligation is to repudiate Mr. Bush's economic policy. This is the sage Beltway counsel now being delivered to these alleged "budget hawks" who are said to be duty bound to defuse the "deficit bomb."</p>