In a WSJ op-ed, Greenspan turns his back on Krugman & Keynes.
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There are 2 fair reactions to Greenspan's editorial published this morning at the WSJ:
1. You accept his voice now firmly on the side of fiscal restraint.
OR
2. You ignore him because he was an architect of the bubble.
I'm going with option #1. Anyone who takes on Krugman, Delong, Yglesias & Keynes gets my support. For the record, Keynes advocated fiscal discipline and surpluses during growth periods to be balanced by deficit spending during recessions. But fiscal discipline has never existed in Washington, being counter-intuitive to a lobbying culture built on spending and government giveaways.
Henry Blodget still thinks both sides of the deficit debate are simply shouting 'over each other.' I have pointed out that he is missing the more fundamental aspect of the debate -- our side, that of fiscal restraint, does NOT accept the basic premise of our opponents -- namely, that government spending, at least in this debt-deleveraging recession, actually creates any meaningful private sector jobs.
The stimulus just isn't working. (Economist Eric Falkenstein explains the failure.) Pardon the language but we're pissing into the wind, and it's blowing right back at us in the form of the ever-expanding national debt ($5 billion more each and every day) to be handed to your children.
We've tried and spent, and then spent some more. And nothing. It's time for the New Zealand approach (please read it). And I'll take Greenspan, despite his past sins. We can despise him all we wish, but the fact remains that the MSM still respects him and his word, and so he is a useful voice on the side of fiscal sanity.
Quotes and links inside.
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