I put debate in quotes because I think Krugman is a joke, and I can’t believe anyone actually reads his stuff for anything other than pure entertainment.
On Yahoo’s Tech Ticker, Niall Ferguson fires back with his side of the story – which is based on actual economic history, rather than Keynsian “pie in the sky” theory.
Also a heads up that I’ll be posting a review of Ferguson’s book The Ascent of Money in the next few weeks. It was a very good read, so if you’re thinking about getting it, I’d say go for it.
Hat tip to fellow Austrian economic disciple and friend JL for sending this clip along today!
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Ferguson, like so many others, attempts to put into perspective the budget woes of the US, encapsilating the budget mismanagement on social programs without so much as a mention of the US 1 trillion dollar military budget. Paul Ryan’s plan fails there as well, at the end of the day cutting the bulk of Americans out of benefits they are willing to pay for, in exchange to have average citizens get stuck with paying this massive budget deficit. Its the deficit that tacitly created the kind of wealth that is now opting out of any burden to repay it. Wealth wants it’s cake and to eat it to, as the US military is nothing more than an enforcement arm of Western corporations. He argues for low low tax rates, arguing it stimulates growth. Sure, growth for who? Corporations and a few investors, not the US proper. And what of factors exogenous to the direct economic impacts and the potential for global power shifts? Ferguson being a Harvard academic should have more sense and discuss the geographic and geopolitical considerations. Transnational corporations are earning record profits translating into a grand Wall Street and a nothing Main Street. Though 25 years of recent history shows that cutting tax for corporations and the wealthy does nothing for the bulk of the US Main Street, instead, the world is setting new records of the have and have nots. The biggest political problem we have of our time is not how to contain the budget problems or even how to pay for it, but instead, obtain a reasonable plan on what we want to see this country become. At this moment, trans national corporations and the wealthy of the US care about markets, money, profit and power. Their needs are few, a good military and legal structure. The lives and future of its people is not a real consideration. They are extremely shortsighted and self intersted.