Economics / Recession 2008 - 2009 Dec 29, 2008 - 10:28 AM
By: Peter_Schiff
Belt-tightening is required by all, including government. The following are excerpts from my article that ran in the Wall Street Journal on the 27th of December. The piece considers why unlimited government activism to fight the intensifying recession is so universally appealing.
As recession fears cause the nation to embrace greater state control of the economy and unimaginable federal deficits, one searches in vain for debate worthy of the moment. Where there should be an historic clash of ideas, there is only blind resignation and an amorphous queasiness that we are simply sweeping the slouching beast under the rug.
...It would be irresponsible in the extreme for an individual to forestall a personal recession by taking out newer, bigger loans when the old loans can't be repaid. However, this is precisely what we are planning on a national level.
I believe these ideas hold sway largely because they promise happy, pain-free solutions. They are the economic equivalent of miracle weight-loss programs that require no dieting or exercise. The theories permit economists to claim mystic wisdom, governments to pretend that they have the power to dispel hardship with the whir of a printing press, and voters to believe that they can have recovery without sacrifice.
By Peter Schiff
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7998.htmlThere's No Pain-Free Cure for Recession
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123033898448336541.html