[ex-snook]

"So why, whenever there’s a downturn, do politicians resuscitate the idea that bigger government will “stimulate” the economy? "

What alternatives are available to politicians? They can't force business to hire. Waiting for the long term market to rally fulfills Keynes' admonition 'in the long run we will all be dead'.

Long lines of people looking for work or looking for food await an immediate solution. What is it?

[cdcdawg]

“What alternatives are available to politicians?”

A good start would be confessing their sins in causing the problem in the first place.