Krugman Obliterated Ryan's Budget / JUB GOP... Response?

[Lostlover]

Finally some honesty from "your generation."

Yeah, Lostlover, it was my generation that thought up that stuff. It was called Voodoo Economics by many detractors, which, in retrospect, it really was.

Every single time it's been tried, we've ended up with crippling deficits, but there're still some people who believe it. It's like some kind of religion or something. You can't reason with them.

Recently someone pointed out that tax revenues increased during the Reagan years. What they didn't tell you is that, as a percentage of the GDP, tax revenues actually plummeted. He tried to say,'It's not relevant".

Why of course it is, JackRabbit! It suggests that the increase of tax revenue had nothing to do with lowering taxes at all, and that we grew our way into the higher tax revenue situation.

So you young people say,"J'accuse!" at our generation, for the crime of Voodoo Economics.

My Baby Boomer response? "Guilty, your honor."

@Republicans: give it up, doggone it!!

 

[Kulindahr]

Did it break down how much of that is spent on protecting other nations? While I don't disagree that defense spending should be cut dramatically, a lot of people also forget that we spend large sums defending other countries too.

We should start billing them half the cost of our being there.

 

[JB3]

We should start billing them half the cost of our being there.

Half? They should pay for every bolt, boot, and uniform that currently protects them.

 

[Kulindahr]

Half? They should pay for every bolt, boot, and uniform that currently protects them.

Theoretically we're there because we're allies.


The next step would be to take the position that since we're sort of guests, they have to provide base security....

 

[JB3]

I agree again.

I think, however, we need to assess each situation honestly, and individually. It might be totally appropriate to hand over Japan's defense to itself, but wildly imprudent to pull out of South Korea, for example...

Well yeah, within reason. Some nations need it, others don't.

 

[hotatlboi]

If anything like the Ryan plan gets passed and Medicare is gutted I would encourage every Jubber under 45 to move to a different country so you can work there and qualify for their retirement programs.

Whatever dude. My goal is to make enough money that I don't need a government to secure my retirement.

 

[BostonPirate]

Krugman isn't that bad, and has been right on a number of things. He was quite spot on when he prognosticated that the stimulus bill was way too small; it was as it turned out. He was right that interest rates would not "skyrocket" as Republican chicken littles clucked over running short term deficits; they haven't. There are a number of others I can name. He did miscall the bank bailout being ineffective; it turned out it was VERY effective, and put a backstop against a global financing meltdown.

His predictions do deserve consideration.

In My Opinion......

He has a basic failure to understand the difference between what a commodities intrinsic value is and what its percieved value is. He only models economically on what he thinks others perceive the value of a commodity to be.

That tends to make him rather blind to the reality that those two values, when out of ballance, can suddenly snap into deflation and unemployment.

Let me ask you a simple question....

why would spending MORE money on the stimulus have yeilded a greater result?