Peter Dorman — The Main Point

Macroeconomics is complicated and political economy is devilish, so it is easy to get lost in the details.  From time to time, it’s good to come up for air—to remember what the fundamental issue is.  In a way, the debate over structural versus cyclical factors invites us to do just that.

Suppose the current recession/depression is mainly structural.... If the structuralist story is right, the ongoing slump is necessary and unavoidable and will end only when we have fashioned the resources for producing the right stuff. 

If the cyclical story is predominately true, however, we have neither the wrong people nor the wrong capital stock.  We have all the ingredients it takes to have a vibrant economy that can fully employ our populations and generate a standard of living that surpasses what we had in the past and that keeps growing further.... If you accept the cyclical story, and the evidence certainly weighs in its favor, you should not accept another month, much less year after year, of excuses for austerity.

Read it at Econospeak
The Main Point

by Peter Dorman

(h/t Dan Crawford at Angry Bear)

Sums it up nicely.