Government Spending Is Bad Economics

The debate about whether or not government spending is a useful countercyclical tool has been revived by the continuing economic crisis. Today, the discussion has been politicized and deals almost exclusively with the size of government debt, focusing on the tax burden this debt represents for future generations and whether or not further debt will help stimulate the economy. Politically, the result has been a middle-of-the-road fiscal policy that has left no economist satisfied. Academically, the debate is generally split between free-market and Keynesian schools of thought, with each side arguing for a policy very different from those already implemented.

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