That's only one half of the Keynesian equation. The other half is tighter fiscal policy during good times, which Clinton observed during his reign, by raising taxes and balancing the budget. Bush didn't do it when he had the chance. You can't look at only half of the equation and pronounce it the full Keynes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521,00.html Roughly 330 million citizens and 107,149,531 actually pay taxes. By my high school math thats 33% of all Americans. Leaving 67% on the govt dole.
Agreed about Bush. But I assume you mean raising tax REVENUES or cutting spending? The US already has the HIGHEST CORPORATE TAX RATES (inc Federal taxes) in the world that is why all the US corporates flee offshore. The key is surely to raise tax revenues and some argue that lowering tax rates to get the economy moving again would also accomplish this. Gordon Brown in the UK also followed the Bush route of running fiscal deficits when times were good. That's a big problem with Keynesian solutions - we only ever get the fiscal deficit side, good times or bad. In the good times when tax revenues are high, they never run the budget surpluses like they're supposed to and start paying down the debt. Where is Keynes then?! The thing is, so called Keynesian policies have been taken too far. In Keynes' own lifetime, US corporate tax rates were as low as 1% (in 1901). It is probably true that National Treasury departments in the 1920s-30s were too rigid in pursuing balanced budgets. But did Keynes ever propose an exponentially increasing national debt and central banks running near zero interest rate policies for years on end? I wonder how Keynes himself would feel about the likes of Krugman and Stiglitz today prescribing "Keynesian" solutions? The man himself may well have deemed such policies irresponsible. But FWIW I don't think Ayn Rand has all the solutions either.
I just downloaded luskin's book onto the ipad-- started reading it, it is quite good, so far--- thanks, surf
Are you saying that Cuba and the US are identical in terms of wealth and power structure? Please move to Canada or Europe if equality is what you like. Instead, IIRC you chose to immigrate to the US.
Surf, The book sounds like dull read, I am John Galt. Let me know. For all you fools who think Cuba, Russia and the US are the same. I'm not ruled by the top 1% of the wealth in this country. I do not take my orders from them. They do not effect my "Living Standard" or my Business. (well they sorta do with my business as I deal with many of them on that level). My point is, the sounds of jealous school children enter the room when you guys speak. If you want to play with the Big Dogs, then work your ass off and become a Big Dog. Stop crying about how they have all "THIS POWER and MONEY" that you do not have. Besides, you Parasites are winning the battle in Amerika. You have free loading parasites, much like yourselves, on the bottom food chain and the big business Parasites on the top of the food chain. The true capitalist in the middle and being squeezed. Capitalism died a long time ago and Ayn Rand watched the death coming. Now all you scum sucking Parasites are getting your way..much like the scum sucking parasites did in her book, "Atlas Shrugged". And if you read the book, you know how all this will end. I'm not worried, as I have the means to survive.
As I said .........what matters is the system in place. Cuba & USA share similarities in power & wealth distribution (Oviously both countries are separated by light years). Castro and his friends in the party and military are no different than Obama, Bush, Reagan and their friends in WallStreet, Goldman Sachs and many others. I dont mind moving anywhere. I am an immigrant by nature; if I find a better place I take it. But I consider Canada to be a good option for the future. I just hate COLD.
There are no viable Keynesians in EITHER party. Keynesian approach requires socking away surpluses during the good years, nobody has done that in the US in pushing in at least 50 years. Spending rainy-day savings is fundamentally different than adding debt.
I agree with you as much as I disagree with you. I consider myself a commodity. A very odd one. I was bless to live under the tyranny of dictatorship & communism, both at once. We in Cuba think of freedom as the only thing one needs (obviously because we are not free down there). Emigrating to the US is the one/only solution to all our problems. But that changes when you live here for many years. As someone once said......."Communism is a destructive period between Capitalism & Capitalism." Indeed a very savvy note. But Capitalism can't answer many of the problems we as a society face. In fact we do not have capitalism anymore. I WISH CAPITALISM WAS AROUND. But not because of some sort of social programs or external causes. What we have is corporatism, a system very close to fascism. We have a welfare corporate state, Corporations do rule our lives, what we eat, who is in congress or not. A system that favors the top richest people at the expense of the rest. A SYSTEM ABOUT TAKING INSTEAD OF CREATING. It explains why we have the highest lawyers per person in the WORLD!!!!!!!. We rank 7 or 8 in the world economic freedom index. I lived under Castro's communist rule for 16 years, I lived 12 years in the US. I am an educated man, BS Economics, MBA. I have traveled the world, and I have family members in most industrial countries. Now let me tell you this: Communism vs. Capitalism is fairy tale. Stop philosophical thinking. What matters is the system every country uses. And the one we have in the US is already going to destroy us. Capitalism is beautiful (as I know from the Economics books) but it is incomplete. We need some level of social programs, laws and organizations. Some might call this a form of socialism but it is what it is. Whether you like it or not. Whether you deny this or not. Europe & Canada have a lot to teach the USA. Thanks for reading.