Mark Thoma on the hidden agenda behind "expansionary fiscal austerity"

Mark Thoma doesn't buy that the people running things are so dim that they don't see that "expansionary fiscal austerity" is an oxymoron. Their agenda is the same old conservative agenda of shrinking government.

There clearly is a class of people willing to sacrifice the livelihood and well-being of others in pursuit of their ideological goal of a smaller government (so long as their own future remains secure). The notion of "expansionary austerity" was the cover, but so long as government shrinks as a result of the policy, the expansionary part is secondary. If reducing the size of government slows the recovery, that's a small price to pay for such a worthy goal -- for them anyway, the power behind this is in no danger of becoming unemployed. The main thing is to impose the small government ideology whenever there is a chance, and to use whatever argument is needed to serve that purpose, austerity is expansionary, tax cuts pay for themselves -- whatever works -- the ideologues will even embrace Keynesian economics if it allows them to argue for tax cuts that might further "starve the beast" (e.g. see Bush's argument for the first round of his tax cuts). But in the end the goal is a simple one, reduce the size and influence of government, and everything else is just a means of getting there.

Read it at Economist's View
The Purpose of Macroeconomic Policy?
by Mark Thoma

Morons or evil geniuses? Or may a combination of both?