little more to say…

Posted on Friday 19 November 2010


Axis of Depression
New York Times

By PAUL KRUGMAN
November19, 2010

What do the government of China, the government of Germany and the Republican Party have in common? They’re all trying to bully the Federal Reserve into calling off its efforts to create jobs. And the motives of all three are highly suspect…

So what’s really motivating the G.O.P. attack on the Fed? Mr. Bernanke and his colleagues were clearly caught by surprise, but the budget expert Stan Collender predicted it all. Back in August, he warned Mr. Bernanke that “with Republican policy makers seeing economic hardship as the path to election glory,” they would be “opposed to any actions taken by the Federal Reserve that would make the economy better.” In short, their real fear is not that Fed actions will be harmful, it is that they might succeed.

Hence the axis of depression. No doubt some of Mr. Bernanke’s critics are motivated by sincere intellectual conviction, but the core reason for the attack on the Fed is self-interest, pure and simple. China and Germany want America to stay uncompetitive; Republicans want the economy to stay weak as long as there’s a Democrat in the White House…
At last! Krugman moves into the eye of the storm. While he still feels obligated to retort the Republican talking points, he gets to the bottom line conclusion – this time, the Republicans are only interested in:
  1. Sticking the Democrats with the Bush Recession/Depression.
  2. Keeping us in "recess" to further their political agenda.
" In short, their real fear is not that Fed actions will be harmful, it is that they might succeed." There’s little more to say than that. Here’s their track record again – increased spending, lower taxes, running up the debt. The math is just not that hard:
 
 

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