It sure looks as if we’re going over the fiscal cliff, but that may be the least of our problems. The debt ceiling is a much bigger and more dangerous issue, and it looks very much as if Republicans are set to destroy the full faith and credit of the United States if they can’t get their way.Read the entire post. I wanted to add "stupid" to my title, but I refrained in the spirit of the season of peace and good will, but I suppose thinking "stupid" is in the same category as lust in the heart. Oh well. Mea culpa.
Paul Krugman is my favorite economist. Why the president and Democrats in Congress don't pay attention to Krugman is a mystery to me. He knows his subject, does the research and the math, and speaks what looks like plain common sense to me. He should be Secretary of the Treasury, but, if offered the position (not likely), he might not accept. A Facebook friend reminded me that Krugman won the Nobel Prize, which should count for something, however I fear certain citizens of the country view Nobel Prizes as a liberal plot, thus it counts for nothing with them.
It's last year all over again. Let's hope that the fact that this is a lame duck congress will mean a little restraint. I doubt it but let's hope anyway.
ReplyDeleteI hope we go over the cliff. Obama wants to give too much away to get a deal before tomorrow.
DeleteTwo things I never had a course in, but really wish I had, are statistics and economics. I'm not able to judge Krugman's economics with any personal expertise, but he sure sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Though actually, he's probably better off giving advice from outside the government, if anyone will listen, than being part of it and thus subject to all the power plays and backroom conniving that goes with the job.
ReplyDeleteRuss, You're probably right that Krugman wields more influence outside of government. The irony is that the deals the president offered the House earlier in the negotiations were better for the Republicans than the deal that the Senate and the president agreed upon.
DeleteThe latest I've read is that the House may want to amend the legislation and send it back to the Senate, which would mean that the bill would be DOA, and the next Congress would deal with the results of going over the cliff.