Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougban...killing-the-economy-with-government-stimulus/
27% higher... what are we getting for it?
Obviously she is to the low end of the range, but given the failure of the massive amounts of government spending the last few years to stimulate the economy, it appears she is correct.
This is the point that the 'spend more' morons don't ever seem to grasp. They only look to the short term and ignore the long term effects.
Side note: Our debt service bill is about $500B this year.
“The White House forecasts that government spending in 2012 will exceed 2011 levels by 5 percent and will be 27 percent higher than it was in 2008.”
27% higher... what are we getting for it?
A 2009 IMF study of economic research suggested a multiplier in the range of 0.3 to 1.8, with some variation based on country size. In a paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Valerie Ramey of theUniversity of California (San Diego) reviewed the economic literature, which suggested that the multiplier probably was between .8 and 1.5, and almost certainly was between .5 and 2.0.
However, she personally reached far more negative findings: “For the most part, it appears that a rise in government spending does not stimulate private spending; most estimates suggest that it significantly lowers private spending. These results imply that the government spending multiplier is below unity. Adjusting the implied multiplier for increases in tax rates has only a small effect. The results imply a multiplier on total GDP of around 0.5.”
Obviously she is to the low end of the range, but given the failure of the massive amounts of government spending the last few years to stimulate the economy, it appears she is correct.
Finally, any attempt at “stimulus” leaves a long-term cost after any short-term benefits have long dissipated. Observed Barro: “fiscal deficits have only a short-run expansionary impact on growth and then become negative.” Thus, constantly increasing deficits result in “persistently low economic growth and an exploding ratio of public debt to GDP.”
This is the point that the 'spend more' morons don't ever seem to grasp. They only look to the short term and ignore the long term effects.
Side note: Our debt service bill is about $500B this year.