November 08, 2010
The NYT got the story 100 percent wrong when it told readers that:
“International concerns about the high budget deficit in the United States, and Washington’s seeming willingness to print money rather than tackle tough debt-cutting measures, help partly explain the recent anti-American criticism from countries as diverse as Brazil, China and Germany.”
Actually, the Fed is taking more expansionary monetary policy; the government is not engaging in more stimulus. It would likely print even more money if the government began raising taxes and cutting spending.
This article is written largely like an advocacy piece. It does not include the view of any economists or any economic analyst who points out that the high current deficits are primarily the result of the economic collapse. Nor does it point out that the advocates of economic austerity lacked the competence to recognize the enormous housing bubbles, the collapse of which wrecked much of the world’s economy. Readers should know that the admonitions for austerity are coming from highly paid people of questionable competence.
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