Provide suitable stimulus. Use the cash. Let it circulate and boost the economy. If the deficit hawks roar fix the deficit by taxing the rich. It's simple. It's not easy policy to enforce, but it's sound policy.

This is a companion piece to whether Pawlenty is intent on continuing to hurt Minnesota's economy by a politically motivated refusal of needed stimulus funds in the state. (The item just below this post.)

Krugman:

But, in America, we do have a choice. The markets aren’t demanding that we give up on job creation. On the contrary, they seem worried about the lack of action — about the fact that, as Bill Gross of the giant bond fund Pimco put it earlier this week, we’re “approaching a cul-de-sac of stimulus,” which he warns “will slow to a snail’s pace, incapable of providing sufficient job growth going forward.”

It seems almost superfluous, given all that, to mention the final insult: many of the most vocal austerians are, of course, hypocrites. Notice, in particular, how suddenly Republicans lost interest in the budget deficit when they were challenged about the cost of retaining tax cuts for the wealthy. But that won’t stop them from continuing to pose as deficit hawks whenever anyone proposes doing something to help the unemployed.

So here’s the question I find myself asking: What will it take to break the hold of this cruel cult on the minds of the policy elite? When, if ever, will we get back to the job of rebuilding the economy?

The excerpt is from the ending of the Krugman editorial, where earlier his term "austerians" is defined, as used in the quote, "many of the most vocal austerians are, of course, hypocrites." Perhaps he's punning on the Austrians, the von Mises school that appears to have graduated Ron Paul summa cum laude, and, indeed, they currently seem to be austerians in things. At any rate here's the opening Krugman text, via screenshot:

As always, click the image to enlarge and read.

For the second half of the editorial click and read this wrap-up screenshot - the ending being the beginning quote of the post.

That's the enture OpEd. Captured by screenshot. (From New York Times, this link -- and they have their vexing login screen, which is why I did screenshots.)

So -- When you read the reporting of Tim Pawlenty's dithering over accepting a needed $2.3 million of federal stimulus to boost to the state's economy, dithering for whatever dark reasons motivate him, think of him as one of Krugman's "austerian" hypocrites.

Then, look at Tom Emmer; we can stand him up next to Tim Pawlenty; and say,


"Oh My God! Tom Emmer is worse!"