http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/time-for-bottles-in-coal-mines/
Posts like this remind me why I bother reading Krugman's blog.
I thought people must have been exaggerating when they said that the government paying people to dig holes in the ground would be a helpful stimulus for the economy. But here we have one of the most currently influential economists saying just that.
How can anyone possibly think that this could produce wealth? He is saying that it is a bad thing that stimulus projects are judged on their profit/loss, because the point is to be as needlessly expensive as possible. And people are posting comments agreeing with this!
I honestly do wonder if keynesians can only exist as people with no real practical business experience. I honestly think the form of economics can only be fathomed in the minds of academia, government Igors, and bought off business. I would love to know the how many "real world" Keynesians there actually are
Hell, at least I can grasp where socialism and protectionism comes from, this is just...well?
It seems that the people who think this produces wealth have detached the source of the money for these projects and the money itself. They are the same ones who will insist that government run healthcare is going to be free. There is just no connection that the government has to either confiscate the money it uses or it has to print more which destroys the "value" of the money.
They look to the government for the solution to problems, and not themselves. If it comes from the individual or the market then it does not count. Only the government counts, or so they think.
I wish I still believed in the magic money fairy. Life would be so much more fun that way.
Yup, economic ignorance in it's most raw form. I LOVE that Keynes quote because it's hard evidence that he doesn't have a clue about how wealth is created. Krugman's column would be good on comedy central's website, if it weren't for the fact that it's taken seriously (which is distressing). I got down to the third comment and couldn't read any more.