Question I Would Have Asked at Last Night's Press Conference [Greg Pollowitz]
Q: Mr. President, who is going to buy all of this new debt and what is your exit strategy for getting the debt paid off?
Which leads to today's Wall Street Journal op-ed from University of Chicago economists Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy, "There's No Stimulus Free Lunch." An excerpt:
We believe that it is incumbent on both supporters and opponents of the bill to thoughtfully evaluate each of these four factors. We recognize that how individuals will come out in their own evaluation of these factors will determine their attitude toward the stimulus package, and that there is considerable ground for reasonable differences of opinion.
Our own view is that the short-term stimulus from the legislation before Congress will be smaller per dollar spent than is expected by many others because the package tries to combine short-term stimulus with long-term benefits to the economy. Unfortunately, short-term and long-term gains are in considerable conflict with each other. Moreover, it is very hard to spend wisely large sums in short periods of time. Nor can one ever forget that spending is not free, and ultimately it has to be financed by higher taxes.
Higher taxes. That's Obama's exit strategy, which he should be honest about when lecturing the America people.
02/10 09:35 AM
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