"You don't ever want to let a crisis go to waste: it's an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid." - Rahm Emanuel
WILL THE EXTRA SPENDING BE ON THINGS WE NEED?
If you hire your neighbor for $100 to dig a hole in your backyard and then fill it up, and he hires you to do the same in his yard, the government statisticians report that things are improving. The economy has created two jobs, and the G.D.P. rises by $200. But it is unlikely that, having wasted all that time digging and filling, either of you is better off.
If you hire your neighbor for $100 to dig a hole in your backyard and then fill it up, and he hires you to do the same in his yard, the government statisticians report that things are improving. The economy has created two jobs, and the G.D.P. rises by $200. But it is unlikely that, having wasted all that time digging and filling, either of you is better off.
People don't usually spend their money buying things they don't want or need, so for private transactions, this kind of inefficient spending is not much of a problem. But the same cannot always be said of the government. If the stimulus package takes the form of bridges to nowhere, a result could be economic expansion as measured by standard statistics but little increase in economic well-being.
... Over the last century, the largest increase in the size of the government occurred during the Great Depression and World War II. Even after these crises were over, they left a legacy of higher spending and taxes. To this day, we have yet to come to grips with how to pay for all that the government created during that era — a problem that will become acute as more baby boomers retire and start collecting the benefits promised.
Read more by nytimes.com
Haase - What does this have to do about EHS?
'continued unregulated econonmic and overrun govenment spending will dissolve any and all hopes for clean or sustainable energy in our future' - Haase
In an ERA without basic health care or employment for over 10% of our nation we will have NO choices but to sacrifice necessary environmental, energy and just to protect the suffering.
UNLESS we make the right choices by investing in environmental and energy sectors that grow our jobs and GDP. It is VERY possible, but I have observed no 'realistic ideas for actual change or anything remotely different from decades old environmental and energy programs that failed horribly.