I think the Obama administration, supported by unaffiliated liberals, wants to inflate the US economy out of its doldrums. That means a falling standard of living for the masses. Which ties in neatly with the repubs/Simpson Bowles. (How do clowns like Simpson -- and many others -- get such stature?) They can't quite trigger inflation (yet) and Euro-f*ck-ups keep stopping the fall of the dollar, so it hasn't happened (yet).
Meanwhile, over on Pen-l, the US economy is seldom discussed. Gene On Mar 1, 2013, at 7:39 AM, Jim Devine wrote: > I wrote: >>> is it possible that the GOPsters really believe in the Classical >>> economic view that if the (US federal) government is cut back, doing >>> so will unleash the private sector, which will promptly pick up the >>> economic slack? > > Gene Coyle wrote: >> Yes, of course. > > actually, the Obama administration is playing a similar game. They > just want a different _kind_ of austerity than the GOPniks do. It's > true that raising taxes on the rich is much less damaging to aggregate > demand than laying off air traffic controllers, but BHO isn't arguing > in favor of what's really needed, i.e., large government deficits. He > seems to be part of the "balance the budget now!" Washington > consensus, especially after raising Bowles and Simpson to national > prominence. This also fits with his appointment of Summers and > Geithner. BHO should have been pushing to repeal the sequester law for > years... > > By the way, I don't expect my musings about policy to have any > political or economic effect, positive or negative. My interest in > policy comes because it affects what actually happens in the real > world. Capitalism isn't simply driven by its underlying "laws of > motion" (which are not totally deterministic in their impact). The > actual results depend on an "overdetermined" combination of those > "laws" and what happens in the state, culture, and the like. Second, > policy reflects which in turn politics reflect the objective limits on > state actions (those damn "laws") and also the current balance of > power. The whole point is to change the latter (at least in the short > run). Of course, I see no point in cheer-leading for one side or the > other in the long-running miniature civil war in Washington, DC. > > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your > own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
