Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Global Economics 101

Krugman on how if everyone stops spending, the economy spirals downward--yet our Puritan notions of economics keep us from serving our own interests.
The irony is that in their determination to punish the undeserving, voters are punishing themselves: by rejecting fiscal stimulus and debt relief, they’re perpetuating high unemployment. They are, in effect, cutting off their own jobs to spite their neighbors.

But they don’t know that. And because they don’t, the slump will go on.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always wondered why democrats so misread conservatives and republicans and tea partiers on this issue. It's not the just the spending that's the problem, but what that money goes to. If you're going to do a stimulus, voters expect something tangible at the end that will improve their lives, a hoover dam, 10 new nuclear plants, an enormous solar panel grid in the South West Desert, an orbital solar array, microwaving power back to earth, a space elevator! Instead we get payments to favored groups and unions and states. Mr. Krugman has proven himself ridiculous and I hope you see that soon.

KAZ said...

Forgive me for thinking that we need our bridges and roads repaired before we invest in space elevators. In my county, a lot of money did go to scientific research, because that's the kind of county we are. You can track the $ on http://projects.propublica.org/recovery. Per capita amounts are pretty much equal--a little low in TX, a little high in AK. Not sure what you mean by "favored states."

Anonymous said...

I know its a great talking point that our roads are crumbling, but federal roads simply are not. Go take a ride to Corning and you'll see what I mean. Maybe local roads in the City of Ithaca are terrible, but that's because it's a lower priority for the city than other areas.

I think you should look into what a space elevator would allow us to do and the fact it won't happen without nanotechnology is all the better for our state and county. I'd like to think we're educating our children to build space elevators and not to just build roads. There's nothing wrong with that line of work and I enjoyed my days as a roofer, but you don't need engineers for that.

KAZ said...

Then you'll be glad to know that in Tompkins County, by far the biggest grant went to nanotechnology research. Don't complain until you do a little searching. You may be pleasantly surprised.