[niteowl77]

For those unfamiliar with Niall Ferguson, he writes books that make you glad that you actually bought John Keegan's book instead.

[ClearCase_guy]

"The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers," by Paul M. Kennedy was an interesting book with some historical insights. However, as I recall, it came out during the Reagan years and was widely seen as a criticism of Reagan's defense build up. The US was destroying itself, you see, by re-igniting an arms race with the Soviet Union.

Well, it worked out OK with the US. We won the Cold War, and started a record-breaking economic expansion. So, at least in part, Kennedy's theories were disproven shortly after he published. But the NYT presents this as George W. Bush trying to swim against the tide and do something no one else in history has ever accomplished.

Just watch.

[NMC EXP]

The crucial point, of course, is that in the short term at least, fiscal policy is not a zero-sum game: a government can easily increase military spending without reducing consumer demand if it finances the higher spending by borrowing rather than taxation (and provided taxpayers do not view borrowing as future taxation and reduce consumption in anticipation).

Translation:
Accumulating debt is not a tax on us. It is a tax on our children and grandchildren therefore it is OK.

Regards

J.R.

[Drango]

The Bush administration is currently engaged in an audacious - some would say reckless

Yeah right....dude, if you don't invest in guns, you'll be speaking arabic and your wife and daughter will be forced to wear burkas. Then how much butter will you have?

[Citizen Tom Paine]

I was thinking about this a while ago. The US has "solved" the problem that bedeviled both Hitler and LBJ.

Of course, our Grandchildren may spit on our graves as they groan under their tax burden.

[SunkenCiv]

An oldie, from nearly three years ago, but worth a retrospective.