PK out with a short hit on the current GOP use of coercion in the conduct of negotiations on the budget resolution here at the NYT.
He brings in the Peterson people and lays blame on Peterson sympathetic groups who supported similar tactics in 2011.
If we have a debt-ceiling crisis in a couple of weeks, with dire economic effects, don’t just blame Boehner’s Bunglers; you should also blame the deficit scolds — the Committee for a Responsible Peterson Budget and so on, and all the Very Serious People who have lent them support.
For as Jonathan Chait reminds us, these organizations all cheered the Republicans on in 2011, as they made the first-ever use of the debt ceiling to blackmail a sitting president.
If they are now horrified by the prospect of a financial crisis, well, guys, you’re the ones who insisted that extortion was OK as long as you thought it served your goals.Well Dan takes on Krugmans implication that the President is somehow "innocent" in all of this pretty well here. (with video link!)
But what difference does Krugman see between the "goals" of these groups in 2011 and the "goals" of these groups in 2013?
These groups then AND now want "a fiscally responsible budget" or a "balanced budget" and always will.
Nothing has changed with these people.
Government attempting to "balance the budget" in the face of always substantial non-government savings desires will always lead to a "financial crisis".
What does Krugman think is going on here? Where is he getting that somehow these deficit-morons have different goals today vs. 2011?
They have one goal: A "balanced budget"; and pursuit of this goal via fiscal policy will ALWAYS result in a financial crisis and collapse in real outcomes.
4 comments:
Interesting that they see Obama as the opponent instead of the house and senate Dems. Says something, I'm not sure exactly what.
"Government attempting to "balance the budget" in the face of always substantial non-government savings desires will always lead to a "financial crisis". - Matt
This is an excellent talking point we should adopt and use as a counterpoint to budget balancing and anti-govenment-spending propaganda.
Paul,
Good to see you back in the comments here...
I'd like to point out that 'leading injections' under this shutdown are dismal. Look at Friday's number on the withdrawal side here:
https://www.fms.treas.gov/fmsweb/viewDTSFiles?dir=w&fname=13100400.pdf
Only about 6b net for the day (total withdrawals minus UST redemptions). Mike and I have never seen a number this low... Prior to Oct 1 it was running at about a minimum 11b per day, between 11b and like 13b... so under this 'shutdown' we are down about 5b per day... based on 250 days in the year this is a 1.25T annualized rate... pretty bad... probably actual depression fomenting levels....
I'm thinking we continue to see liquidation... until hopefully the greed trumps the stupidity in Washington and they at least get a CR done albeit probably at a still reduced rate but no where near this 5b per day cut we are currently experiencing...
Hang in there Paul... rsp
Interesting that they see Obama as the opponent instead of the house and senate Dems. Says something, I'm not sure exactly what.
It's tactical. Matter of single focus. Attack the enemy leader, as in WWII where the focus was on Hitler, Mussolini, and TOJ, and recently on Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Easier to whip up hate against a human target like Bill and Hilary, Obama, and Nancy Pelosi.
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