Comments on: Selective Keynesianism http://gwdiscourse.com/2009/03/19/selective-keynesianism/ Sat, 20 Aug 2011 14:07:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Joseph http://gwdiscourse.com/2009/03/19/selective-keynesianism/#comment-165 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:25:39 +0000 http://gwdiscourse.wordpress.com/?p=312#comment-165 No, their dogmas inform them that reducing taxes is an end to itself. Spending is all well and good as long as it’s going to the things like “strong defense” (read: outrageous unjustified militarism). Republicans are not libertarians. Under normal circumstances I’d actually agree that reducing spending is an end in itself, at least at the federal level.

As for the Dems, I was referring more to things that sound good but are actually giveaways, such as ethanol subsidies, which do nothing to help the environment but do inflate grain prices, or regulations that masquerade as being for consumer safety while actually increasing monopolization.

]]> By: Dan Rozenson http://gwdiscourse.com/2009/03/19/selective-keynesianism/#comment-161 Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:24:28 +0000 http://gwdiscourse.wordpress.com/?p=312#comment-161 “The thing is, the Republicans don’t seem to actually believe what they are saying. They just mean the government shouldn’t be allowed to create jobs for people who didn’t give lots of money to their campaigns. And arguably that’s true for many of the Democrats, too, unfortunately.”

With Republicans that’s certainly the case. Their dogmas inform them that reducing spending is an end to itself. I think one could make a case that Democrats support spending on the so-called welfare state or the environment on the merits of the programs, but it’s equally plausible that it is part of a narrow calculation.

]]> By: Joseph http://gwdiscourse.com/2009/03/19/selective-keynesianism/#comment-160 Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:47:28 +0000 http://gwdiscourse.wordpress.com/?p=312#comment-160 True, for sure, but then, this is the kind of spending that tends to get reined back in the least when times are good (see: all the money wasted on useless missile “defense” systems). Granted, so is much of what Obama wants to do, but in the case of, say, renewable energy or health care, that’s the point. The thing is, the Republicans don’t seem to actually believe what they are saying. They just mean the government shouldn’t be allowed to create jobs for people who didn’t give lots of money to their campaigns. And arguably that’s true for many of the Democrats, too, unfortunately.

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