home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: sci.econ
- Path: sparky!uunet!caen!jwh
- From: jwh@citi.umich.edu (Jim Howe)
- Subject: Re: A Supply Side Call to Arms
- Message-ID: <L2F=lS+@engin.umich.edu>
- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 09:30:35 EST
- Organization: IFS Project, University of Michigan
- References: <1992Nov14.172226.5605@desire.wright.edu> <1992Nov15.190249.11564@midway.uchicago.edu> <0#F=S+-@engin.umich.edu> <56352@dime.cs.umass.edu>
- Reply-To: jwh@citi.umich.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: tarkus.citi.umich.edu
- Lines: 32
-
- In article <56352@dime.cs.umass.edu>, yodaiken@chelm.cs.umass.edu (victor yodaiken) writes:
- |> In article <0#F=S+-@engin.umich.edu> jwh@citi.umich.edu writes:
- |> >I don't know, spending under Bush rose 28%. Spending as a percentage
- |> >of GNP went from approx. 21% to over 25%. Shouldn't we be seeing
- |> >the wonders of Keynesian deficit spending? We've increased spending
- |> >and the economy has gone flat. Seems like there is more to getting
- |> >the economy going that spending more money.
- |> >
- |>
- |> What form of Keynsianism suggests that all government spending is
- |> equivalent? Under Reagan/Bush government expenditures for arms and
- |> interest on the debt and on federal employees all rose sharply, while
- |> the government did not buy much of value of the productive economy:
- |> bridges, roads, educations, ... IMHO, if one goes on a spending binge
- |> and emerges having purchased junk, one is in a significantly worse position
- |> than someone who purchases valuable items.
- |>
-
- Some people have argued that the boom we had was a classic Keynesian
- boom, I assume that you disagree? If so, there must have been something
- else that caused the economy to grow under Reagan and stop under
- Bush. I will certainly agree that not all spending is equal. I
- do not believe, however, that government can spend money 'better'
- than the private sector. Government spending is inherently political
- and has no connection to return on investment. The government
- won't go out of business if it invests improperly, a private business
- will.
-
-
- James W. Howe internet: jwh@citi.umich.edu
- University of Michigan uucp: uunet!mailrus!citi.umich.edu!jwh
- Ann Arbor, MI 48103-4943
-