It's Either Keynesian Or Full Blown Economic Depression

[Yavin4]

I marvel at how we're all nervous and anxious about this coming election when in reality, it really doesn't matter. Sure, the Republicans will blow into screaming for tax cuts, a new war in Iran, and witch hunt investigations into the Obama admin. Then it will be 2012, and we'll all get cranked up again, and who knows who will win.

In the end though, our policy makers have proven one thing. They are completely incapable of crafting any kind of meaningful legislation that addresses our current economic downfall, and they are unwilling or bull-headed to do one thing that will lead us out of this hole, a massive Keynesian style fiscal stimulus in the form of a jobs programs in order to get the economy going.

All our policy makers seem to know how to do is wait until the private sector starts creating 300,000+ new jobs per month, but that simply aint going to happen. Not any time soon. No matter how much tax cuts you give the wealthy, they're not going to create new jobs in an economy without any demand. They'd be fools for doing so.

[Liberalynn]

1. A+

I fear the public is so brainwashed by Reganomics they are just going to keep driving over the cliff paying no attention to the warning signs. Wee we got ten more bucks back on our taxes from last year, but now we have no more jobs, no more food, and no more hope. Yay!

[Yavin4]

4. Americans Will Only Do The Right Thing When There's A Full Blown Crisis

It will literally take people living in the streets before something is done.

[ixion]

9. No just Americans: It's a hard-wired human trait, apparently

because throughout history, humans tend to wait until something is critical to do something about it.

[abelenkpe]

2. We need

a WPA style program for sure.

[area51]

12. +1 n/t

[Tiras De Carne Seca]

3. Well said.

[grasswire]

5. It doesn't have to be this way.

American apathy is allowing this situation. Four actions would immediately turn the economy.

1. Tax the rich their fare share.

2. Stop corporate welfare.

3. Enact laws that discourage offshoring jobs and encourage the return of jobs from overseas.

4. Pass a significant stimulus to every adult making less than $100,000/year. $5000, perhaps.

[sendero]

6. Exactly..

.. supply side jesus is not going to fix this mess.

[lib2DaBone]

7. +100 They are so brainwashed with Reagonomics..Supply Side..

..they wouldn't know a recovery if it crawled up and bit them on the A_ _.

Mr. Obama's so-called "economic advisors" ('Lil Timmy and the Goldman-Sachs Gang) are leading him down the path to hell.

[blue97keet]

8. Plug the leaks or all the stimulus or tax breaks just go out the door to China

No economic theory (or anything else) works in an open system. It's like pumping up a flat tire with a huge leak in it.

[Selatius]

10. The difference is back in those days, we manufactured "in-house."

Nowadays, we out-source consumer and electronic manufacturing to dictatorships like China and countries that don't really enforce any meaningful labor standards.

I submit that any WPA-style works program must not only put people back to work but must also subsidize the in-sourcing of manufacturing activities. Tax codes would have to be altered to make out-sourcing an unattractive option for private firms.

Aside from this, I generally believe the best option we should take would be to take a page out of FDR's playbook.

[tama]

11. No need for any legislation

The real reason that the political class is meaningless is that the current political system has become meaningless - capitalism is dying, having met its limits of growth.

There is no need for more jobs, as most jobs are unnecessary and plain harmfull. There is no need for more consumers and consumption, as consumerism is self-destructive.

There is no need for capitalist state in any form, as it exists only to protect the pyramid fraud of banksters and the military-industrial complex.

It's just us, we the people, together with rest of the life on this planet. Taking care of each other and ourselves.