Robert Reich: Finally a Progressive Budget

Robert Reich's Blog: Finally a Progressive Budget

This is so right on!!! Reich understands so thoroughly the real roots of the recession side of our economic problems.

Praise for the Obama budget. I am so partisan; it is kinda funny.

A discussion about the economy with Fred Mishkin, Mark Zandi, Nouriel Roubini and Nina Easton in Business

Stimulus and Politics - Ideology and Clear Thinking

I must admit that I get rather frustrated when I consider the 800 billion missed opportunities of the proposed stimulus plan. More accurately, closer to 300 billion of the opportunities are missed. The frustration is that both parties hold onto pet ideologies in light of what amounts to pretty simple economics.

Basic economics
I think the formula of basic multipliers and direct jobs created is not that hard to understand. Create demand NOW!!!
Tax cuts do not create demand when people have debt to pay off and consumer confidence is this low.

Obama Losing His Cool
The other hard pill to swallow is that Obama tried to get tough as opposed to staying cool and killing then with facts and confidence. When you have the truth on your side, start gently educating the populous.
Instead, the president got snarky.

According to Robert Reich - I am a Structuralist

Robert Reich on The Causes of the Economic Downturn

"But structuralists see it very differently. The bursting of the housing bubble caused the current crisis, but the underlying problem began much earlier -- in the late 1970s, when median U.S. incomes began to stall. Because wages got hit then by the double-whammy of global competition and new technologies, the typical American family was able to maintain its living standard only if women went into the workforce in larger numbers, and later, only if everyone worked longer hours.

When even these coping mechanisms were exhausted, families went into debt -- a strategy that was viable as long as home values continued to rise. But when the housing bubble burst, families were no longer able to easily refinance and take out home-equity loans. The result: Americans no longer have the money to keep consuming. When you consider that consumers make up 70 percent of the economy, the magnitude of the problem becomes apparent."

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