"The Forgotten Millions" by Paul Krugman at the NY Times
The Forgotten Millions
by Paul Krugman at the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/opinion/krugman-the-forgotten-millions.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0
"SNIP............................................
In fact, of course, its just the opposite: The danger is that the deficit will come down too much, too fast. And the reasons that might happen are purely political; we may be about to slash spending and raise taxes not because markets demand it, but because Republicans have been using blackmail as a bargaining strategy, and the president seems ready to call their bluff.
Moreover, despite years of warnings from the usual suspects about the dangers of deficits and debt, our government can borrow at incredibly low interest rates interest rates on inflation-protected U.S. bonds are actually negative, so investors are paying our government to make use of their money. And dont tell me that markets may suddenly turn on us. Remember, the U.S. government cant run out of cash (it prints the stuff), so the worst that could happen would be a fall in the dollar, which wouldnt be a terrible thing and might actually help the economy.
Yet there is a whole industry built around the promotion of deficit panic. Lavishly funded corporate groups keep hyping the danger of government debt and the urgency of deficit reduction now now now except that these same groups are suddenly warning against too much deficit reduction. No wonder the public is confused.
Meanwhile, there is almost no organized pressure to deal with the terrible thing that is actually happening right now namely, mass unemployment. Yes, weve made progress over the past year. But long-term unemployment remains at levels not seen since the Great Depression: as of October, 4.9 million Americans had been unemployed for more than six months, and 3.6 million had been out of work for more than a year.
.............................................SNIP"