tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post6821522580364515508..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: Has Dean Baker Joined Team Republican?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-163927003408278592017-12-12T10:20:23.847-05:002017-12-12T10:20:23.847-05:00JDM - I'm not concerned about the level of the...JDM - I'm not concerned about the level of the debt either. My concern has more to do with income flows. If the Trump tax cut for the rich leads them to consume more - this means either the rest of us will get to consume less (slashes in transfer payments perhaps) or we will have less national savings. The notion that one can have more growth via an alleged investment boom when one cuts the national savings rate strikes me as not only bogus economics but also an indication that Team Republican flunked first grade arithmetic. ProGrowthLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17138489390594441753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-42059612916417842792017-12-09T19:06:14.621-05:002017-12-09T19:06:14.621-05:00But the Laffer thing's wrongness has nothing t...But the Laffer thing's wrongness has nothing to do with debt per se, which Dean is pointing out. And he pointed that out a lot, especially that the cost of debt service now is very low, and that accepting the idea that our federal government carrying debt is inherently bad is wrong - not just wrong as in inaccurate but wrong as in trapping ourselves because we accepted this bogus federal debt is horrid framing.JDMnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-54361060512061644222017-12-07T11:40:19.762-05:002017-12-07T11:40:19.762-05:00JDM - his close was spot on. Granted that the real...JDM - his close was spot on. Granted that the real GOP agenda is not fiscal stimulus but starve the beast. They talk the talk of deficit neutrality and if they accomplish this goal via starve the beast - maybe we would see a very modest increase in real income. But the median American would see his income go down as the Hampton crowd would get more than 100% of the rise in aggregate income.<br /><br />My point is as long as they are playing this Laffer free lunch nonsense - let's not concede any of it as it is nonsense. ProGrowthLiberalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17138489390594441753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-30289331262370382972017-12-07T10:43:13.562-05:002017-12-07T10:43:13.562-05:00"not because of any economic reality"? C..."not because of any economic reality"? Can you say "government budget constraint" - I knew you could!kevin quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04880872194080353414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-8409501874781304642017-12-06T17:56:10.607-05:002017-12-06T17:56:10.607-05:00Dean's statement then would put him squarely (...Dean's statement then would put him squarely (or at least nearby) the MMT camp (which as many MMT friendlies claim is nothing more than fairly orthodox Keynesian ideas). Many liberal economists (including PK) simply write it off as nonsense. <br />So while not taking a side on this, I do wonder (if naively) how any statistics from 1981 are particularly dispositive given the outside influence of the Volcker recession confounding everything in sight.Wallflyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03852136998154262919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-44590492995388529572017-12-06T12:28:08.052-05:002017-12-06T12:28:08.052-05:00I thougt Dean was pretty clear. Look at his endin...I thougt Dean was pretty clear. Look at his ending two paragraphs:<br /><br /><i><br />To be clear, there will be ways in which the debt can actually make our kids worse off. For example, if we want universal pre-K education or free college, the tax cutters will turn back into deficit hawks and say we can't afford these programs that will help our kids. But, this is not because of any economic reality about debts or deficits being too large, it is about lying politicians who don't want to do anything to help anyone's kids but their own.<br /><br />Let's keep our eye on the ball here. The problem is lying politicians who work for the rich, not the size of the debt.<br /></i>JDMnoreply@blogger.com