The whole broken window fallacy can be picked apart without much effort. The concept that it's purely stimulative is completely non-sensical and ridiculous. It's really a complete media fabrication. The nightly news will just flash images of construction work, packed lines in Home Depot, etc, etc...and the lemmings think that it will "turn the economy around". The camera's aren't around to show you all the small businesses that are closed for good, the number of individuals that cut back on discretionary spending, the number of individuals who go into so much debt in the few weeks/months that their lives are upended trying to make ends meet. It's remarkable that this piece of pure fiction can still be argued as stimulative so many years later...I think that it's a testament to the bubble mentality that this country has been living in for over 30 years.
And what about all the jobs that were lost as a result? What about the millions of people who arent going to work because they have to fix their house, or they had to move? What about all the jobs in the tourism industry that will be lost? What about the entire economy which existed in these devastated areas which now no longer exists because there is nothing there?
And this dipshit Ricter argues the positives of "temporary jobs" while conveniently omitting the pitfalls of "permanent job loss".
You responded just as i was typing the exact same thing to Ricter, its simply mind boggling that these people can not see this.
yeah but that's what you get with a high IQ and Keynesian economics torturing the data to give you what you want to see. There's a reason I call Keynesianism tooth fairy economics
It is an overall cost to society, yes. Take that up with Mother Nature. But at the end of the day, the disaster has created a lot more work for everyone (left) in the area, paid or not, like it or not. No one wants to stimulate this way, most of us would prefer investment spending, but, hey, take it up with Mother Nature. By the way, Harper announced yesterday that Canada has a number of strong fiscal stimulative actions prepared in the event the US goes over the FC--Canada will go Keynesian to protect its economy.
And what about the peoplewho have to leave the area who now need work? All those people are fucked, and what about all the debt that the people living there who can not work will have to incur because they can not work their normal job? What about the economy that existed before the hurricane? Ok lets try this another way since you dont seem to get it. Could a society that just digs hole all day, and fills them in survive? Do you think that society would be as advanced as anyone else? Do you think that society would have the same standard of living as anyone else? Do you think that the people who live in New Jersey will be better off financially from the hurricane? Good, I hope Harper destroys the Canadian dollar, I make US dollars, most of my assets are in U.S. dollars, if Harper wants to destroy the looney, then so be it.
Lol, "good, I hope Harper destroy the Canadian dollar". If you can't have your toy theoretical perspective behave then smash it?