The basis of Keynesian economics is NOT deficit spending. It is the responsible use of credit. At the individual level, it could be compared to borrowing money to buy a home or to capitalize a business.
Keynesian economics:
Borrow and spend in bad times.
Save for a rainy day in good times.
.
Republican voodoo economics:
Borrow and spend. Period. Never save. Never have a budget surplus.
At the public level, it is borrowing money during lean times to capitalize investment in putting people back to work, and then saving money and running SURPLUSES when times are good. You can’t compare that, at the individual level, to maxing out all your credit cards to buy fluff consumer junk that has no lasting value or capacity for return on investment which, at the public level, is what the current administration, like his father and Reagan before him, are doing.
The “feel good” economy of Reagan was based on record deficits that were more than the total of all preceding administrations COMBINED! Then Bush 41 set new records, and Bush 43 even more beyond that.
The ONLY balanced budgets with surpluses were during the Clinton years, and the last ones before that were LBJ.
The basis of Keynesian economics is NOT deficit spending. It is the responsible use of credit. At the individual level, it could be compared to borrowing money to buy a home or to capitalize a business.
Keynesian economics:
Borrow and spend in bad times.
Save for a rainy day in good times.
.
Republican voodoo economics:
Borrow and spend. Period. Never save. Never have a budget surplus.
At the public level, it is borrowing money during lean times to capitalize investment in putting people back to work, and then saving money and running SURPLUSES when times are good. You can’t compare that, at the individual level, to maxing out all your credit cards to buy fluff consumer junk that has no lasting value or capacity for return on investment which, at the public level, is what the current administration, like his father and Reagan before him, are doing.
The “feel good” economy of Reagan was based on record deficits that were more than the total of all preceding administrations COMBINED! Then Bush 41 set new records, and Bush 43 even more beyond that.
The ONLY balanced budgets with surpluses were during the Clinton years, and the last ones before that were LBJ.