Krugman:
Will the next administration do what's needed to deal with the economic slump? Not if Mr. McCain pulls off an upset. What we need right now is more government spending -- but when Mr. McCain was asked in one of the debates how he would deal with the economic crisis, he answered: "Well, the first thing we have to do is get spending under control."hilzoy:
Paul Krugman doesn't need any validation from me, but: he's exactly right. I have been horrified by the number of people who have said that now would be a good time for us to cut back on government spending. This is crazy. I mean: under normal circumstances, I am a deficit hawk. (Even now, I think it's a great time to go through the budget and eliminate pointless and wasteful subsidies and programs.) But these are not normal circumstances. We are heading into a serious recession. We need to do what we can to get the economy moving again. And fiscal stimulus is exactly the way to do this.Saying that we need to cut back on spending at this point is like saying to someone who has just been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer, and to whom people are willing to lend money: look, you've just spent a whole lot of money on the operation to remove your tumor; you just can't afford the chemo and radiation that your doctors recommend. Time to tighten your belt! Time to retrench!
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