Free Republic

OUR national debate about fiscal policy has become skewed, with far too much focus on the deficit and far too little on unemployment. There is too much worry about the size of government, and too little appreciation for how stimulus spending has helped stabilize the economy and how more of the right kind of government spending could boost job creation and economic growth. By focusing on the wrong things, we are in serious danger of failing to do the right things to help the economy recover from its worst labor market crisis since the Great Depression. . . . By...

While the national unemployment rate stuck at 9.5 percent this summer, the youth unemployment rate hit 19.1 percent in July. It was the highest midsummer jobless rate for the 16-to-24 age group on records dating back to 1948, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. The jobless rates for young people in July — typically the peak month for youth employment — jumped from 10.5 percent in 2007 to 14 percent in 2008 to 18.5 percent in 2009. This year, fewer than half (48.9 percent) of that population group held jobs in July. That also was a record —...

The Denver Post editorial board isn’t exactly known for its rock-ribbed conservatism, but today, they have joined the small-government bandwagon. The editorial calls for an end to Keynesian interventions that have clearly failed, and instead an effort to “restructure government to something we can afford.” In Colorado, that call may mean trouble for Democrats looking to return to Washington, as their leadership so far is offering nothing more than a double down on the very policies that the Post blasts in its editorial today: It looks like the Keynesian theory of infusing massive amounts of government cash into the economy...