Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Economy Is Now Immune to Keynesian Crack

The Economy Is Now Immune to Keynesian Crack

Economic data over the past weeks, punctuated by recent dismal employment reports, confirm the diminishing impact of the stimulus efforts orchestrated by the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve. In what must be a huge disappointment to Keynesian enthusiasts, the record doses of both monetary and fiscal narcotics did not produce the desired results.

In fact, the size and scope of the "recovery" of the past two years was weaker than would have been expected in a typical business cycle recovery without any stimulus whatsoever. Indeed our current recovery is the weakest on record, despite the biggest jolt of government stimulus ever administered.


But despite the gathering gloom Austan Goolsbee, outgoing Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, argues that the economy is on the right track and that the recent salvo of horrific economic reports were not significant. The poor numbers, he said, resulted from external factors like the Japanese earthquake and the downgrade of European sovereign debt. I don't know if he really expects anyone to buy his story, but admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery. MORE HERE

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