I don't think that's true or fair even of classical Keynesians, much less the moderns. Only the fruitcakes who are the tea party, and their mirror opposites, think that spending is entirely the problem or entirely the solution.
It's perfectly fair, and completely true. Just look to your hero: Krugman. Spend more! The problem with the Stimulus was that it was too small! It wasn't enough! Lop more debt on that baby! Same thing with just about every politician. SPEND MORE, BABY! As for whether Spending is the entire problem, we simply don't know. It is possible there is an income problem, too. But the Tea Party's point is cut spending first and then let's see! I completely agree and have said it many times on this forum. Don't come to me for more money in taxes until you get your spending in order. Then, once it's reasonable and we've cut the waste, let's talk about how much we need to fund it.
That is simply not true of Krugman's position. The spending has to be done in a certain way. This is clear if you follow his blog.
It's not that simple, you can look for a positive ROI an any spending you've got in mind, maybe you'll find one maybe you won't. The Fortune writer here claims, for example, that not only did the banks pay back the money they were loaned, the taxpayer actually came out a bit ahead. Same for the auto bailouts last I heard.
This reminds me of the argument made that the only reason communism didn't work is becaue the wrong people were in charge.
This reminds me of the argument made that the only reason communism didn't work is because the wrong people were in charge.