Krugman: Build We Won't
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/opinion/paul-krugman-build-we-wont.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=MostEmailed&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article-snip-
You often find people talking about our economic difficulties as if they were complicated and mysterious, with no obvious solution. As the economist Dean Baker recently pointed out, nothing could be further from the truth. The basic story of what went wrong is, in fact, almost absurdly simple: We had an immense housing bubble, and, when the bubble burst, it left a huge hole in spending. Everything else is footnotes.
And the appropriate policy response was simple, too: Fill that hole in demand. In particular, the aftermath of the bursting bubble was (and still is) a very good time to invest in infrastructure. In prosperous times, public spending on roads, bridges and so on competes with the private sector for resources. Since 2008, however, our economy has been awash in unemployed workers (especially construction workers) and capital with no place to go (which is why government borrowing costs are at historic lows). Putting those idle resources to work building useful stuff should have been a no-brainer.
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Anansi1171
(793 posts)Its beyond tragic that investment of that sort would have raised all boats. That demographic that shall remain nameless listens to their GOPdaddies and really believe we cant spend that money and if we do it will only benefit everyone else.
As a combat vet I am so saddened, but the RWNJs are adamant in their self fulfilling prophecy that this country is toast.
These are the men who would burn the village to save it, and until that stick up the -$$ demographic gets over themselves and wakes up, nothing good can come.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I paid 103k in '99 for my house. The house next door, designed to the same plan, just went for 80k a couple of weeks ago. No housing recovery around here.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)msongs
(67,193 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Did you miss the President's Job Plan ... it included a whole section regarding infrastructure.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)18.4 cents a gallon rather than a percentage of the price like any other sales tax!