Krugman And Structural Deficits

Paul Krugman has yet another post explaining that conservatives and Republicans are evil and stupid. Yeah, yeah, but the gem is his graph demonstrating that deficit fears are overblown and that we needn't worry about five years of temporary trillion dollar deficits under Obama.

As a number of commenters point out in a rollicking Reader Revolt at the Times (what, the usual moderators are on holiday break?) there was, per this analysis, no structural deficit in 2007, despite the non-repeal of the dreaded Bush Tax Cuts For The Rich (and the rest of us, apparently, based on the current breathless fiscal cliff maneuverings).

But we all know that the Bush Tax Cuts For The Rich were irresponsible and that taxes must go up, up, up. Why? Move on.

 

Comments

[Melinda Romanoff]

Those comments over there won't last long. Short half-life.

[Rse]

First attempt via cellphone and wifi.

Hard to read how eco slowdown that is coming is to be treated as rep's fault.

[rse]

Have talked to merchants here that i have known for years. They see economy as better than a year or two ago. But that may be a factor of who vacations.

Regionally nashville seems strong.

Should be around b'ham neighbors tonight.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

-- no structural deficit in 2007--

Nor in 1989.
Of course Krugman would be right if those deficits had some hope of being shrunk to the point of irrelevance soon by robust economic growth.
The problem is we have a pres and a party hopelessly devoted to policies which virtually guarantee subpar growth if we grow at all and so those deficits will likely remain vast and the public debt will continue to grow unsustainably.
Those large deficits threaten to continue until the entitlement time bomb hits, at which point the situation essentially becomes unmanageable.
The Dems moronic solution of higher taxes is if anything more destructive than the accumulating debt.
It's the spending Paulie.

[Danube of Thought]

"The Dems moronic solution of higher taxes"

And bear in mind it's only higher taxes for 2% of filers, generating an increase in revenue that is laughably trivia. I suppose they're making such a big deal oiut of that molehill in order to mask the fact that otherwise they are giving the Bush Tax Cuts a ringing endorsement.

[narciso]

The triumph of 'hope over experience'

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/12/28/workers-expect-higher-pay-job-growth-in-2013/

[Fred Beloit]

This taxing the 'rich' mania is nothing more than an encouragement by Obama to his base to wallow in envy and spite. Really noble leadership we have, no?

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

I believe this past year was better than the year before. My busy thrives when the economy gets bad, crashes when the economy gets worse and gets better when things start getting better.

2011 was my worst year ever - ridiculous. This year has been much better altho far from good. It feels like 2013 will have a very truncated good start and then take a nose dive.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--And bear in mind it's only higher taxes for 2% of filers, generating an increase in revenue that is laughably trivia.--

True DaT, but I was referring to the Dem's overarching philosophy of no spending cuts ever and the only solution being higher taxes.

At some point they will have to let the poor dopes in the middle in on the little secret that they intend to confiscate whatever wealth they have accumulated too, in order to fund Leviathan.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Here in Southampton, home of the top 1% of the 1% the only fear is whether the Cliff will affect the height of the hedges.

[henry]

t feels like 2013 will have a very truncated good start ... it won't crash until January 2.

[narciso]

Much like the coyote, we're just hanging on to the question mark.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

What's really funny about Krugman's reliance on Evan Soltas is that he's a high school student.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Krugman or Soltas?

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Correction, Soltas graduated high school last spring and is now a first year student at...Princeton.

[anonamom]

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement in response to President Obama’s appearance on Meet the Press this morning.
“Americans elected President Obama to lead, not cast blame. The president’s comments today are ironic, as a recurring theme of our negotiations was his unwillingness to agree to anything that would require him to stand up to his own party. Needed cuts and reforms that the president agreed to just last year were no longer on the table, as he cited an inability to sell them to Democrats.
“In an effort to get the president to agree to cut spending -- which is the problem -- I put revenues on the table last year, and I put them on the table again last month. Republicans made every effort to reach the ‘balanced’ deficit agreement that the president promised the American people, while the president has continued to insist on a package skewed dramatically in favor of higher taxes that would destroy jobs. We’ve been reasonable and responsible. The president is the one who has never been able to get to ‘yes.’
“The House has passed legislation to avert the entire fiscal cliff, and the president has never called for the Senate to act on those bills in any way. He instead has simply allowed the Democratic-controlled Senate to sit on them and lead our economy to the edge of the fiscal cliff. I am pleased Senators from both parties are currently working to find a bipartisan solution that can finally pass that chamber. That is the type of leadership America needs, not what they saw from the president this morning.”

[jimmyk]

Did anyone see Gregory interview Obama on MTP? Did he ask him a single challenging question other than why the Republicans so selfish and greedy? I can't stomach watching the JEF speak.

[narciso]

Someone on another blog, compared the encounter to Stanley Tucci's unctuous emcee with the villainous President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland, a veteran moonbat going back to the Jane Fonda days.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2012/12/30/benghazi-fiasco-was-just-some-sloppiness-says-obama/

[daddy]

Althouse was not impressed, her commenters even less so.

[daddy]

A MayBee sighting over at Althouse:

Obama: But generally if you look at how I've tried to govern over the last four years

MayBee: MayBee said...
"tried to govern"

How weird. He is president. He has been governing. He doesn't need to focus on what he tried to do, but what he actually did.

The fact that he uses "tried" indicates he knows he did not do.

[jimmyk]

But she titled her post "On 'Meet the Press' today, Obama mostly came across as the moderate, pragmatic politician I like." That anyone could say that based on just the snippets she quoted is baffling. Especially this:

The only thing I would caution against, David, is I think this notion of, "Well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate." And that's just not true. I mean if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the Democratic party, warts and all, and certainly me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first.

It also sounds like Gregory was typically fawning:

The moderator, David Gregory, had asked Obama how "frustrated" he was about the difficulty of getting things done with Congress.

Really tough questioning there, Dick.

[peter]

To call Gregory Dick is an insult to Dick Gregory. I say just call him Dick-Dick.

[daddy]

JimmyK,

Good observation. The title of Althouse's post does not jibe at all with her actual post. It's as if she let David Gregory write her headline---either that or she's schizoid.

[Jarod]

All so very interesting, I've bookmarked to return for further interesting reads.