Friday, July 26, 2013

Paul Waldman — GOP Circular Firing Squad Locked and Loaded

So threatening to shut down the government has become the all-purpose means by which some Republicans believe they can achieve almost any policy goal. Can't cut food stamps? Shut down the government! Can't repeal Obamacare? Shut down the government! "Mr. Chairman, if our proposal to declare August to be National Ted Nugent Appreciation Month is not passed by this body, we will have no choice but to shut down the government!
Fortunately, many Republican senators are sane enough to realize that shutting down the government in an attempt to stop Obamacare would be a political catastrophe for the GOP, so they're not going to let it happen. But the whole thing is sure to breed plenty of displeasure and resentment. Just what the party needs.
The American Prospect
GOP Circular Firing Squad Locked and Loaded
Paul Waldman

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Tom, perhaps you can help:

I was just looking at the MMT wiki and read this:

"The sectoral balances equation says that total private savings (S) minus private investment (I) has to equal the public deficit (spending, G minus taxes, T) plus net exports (exports (X) minus imports (M)), where net exports represent the net savings of non-residents.

Another way of saying this is that total private savings (S) is equal to private investment (I) plus the public deficit (spending, G minus taxes, T) plus net exports (exports (X) minus imports (M)), where net exports represent the net savings of non-residents".

http://mmtwiki.org/wiki/National_accounting_identities_and_the_sectoral_balance_approach


I don't understand "where net exports represent the net savings of non-residents". Why would net exports represent the net savings of foreigners? Shouldn't that be net imports?

(Also shouldn't that be 'saving' instead of 'savings'?)

Tom Hickey said...

Right. Should be saving (flow) instead of savings (stock).

Also "where net exports represent the net savings of non-residents" is confusing even changing "savings" to "saving." Should be net exports of the ROW, which is the net imports of the country under consideration is the net saving of the external sector over the period.

Unknown said...

thanks, that's what I thought.