Krugman: Selective deficit hysteria has done immense damage

[BeyondGeography]

Debt, Doomsayers and Double Standards

So the federal budget deficit just hit $1 trillion (actually $984 billion, but close enough). That’s about $300 billion more than the Congressional Budget Office was projecting in the summer of 2017, before the Trump tax cut was enacted. And basically everybody yawned.

Were there fiery speeches in Congress, denouncing fiscal irresponsibility? No. Was there intense media coverage? No — the story was tucked deep inside major newspapers. Was there severe market reaction? No — interest rates are substantially lower than they were before the deficit surge.

This lack of reaction to a deficit that would have been considered shocking only a few years ago is sort of the fiscal policy equivalent of Sherlock Holmes’s dog that didn’t bark in the night. It tells us a lot about economics, politics — specifically the utter hypocrisy of the G.O.P. — and the news media, which on economic matters has a de facto conservative bias.

...When progressives propose new or expanded social programs, they face intense media scrutiny bordering on harassment over how they intend to pay for these programs. Republicans proposing tax cuts don’t face anything like the same scrutiny; they are seemingly able to get away with blithe assertions that tax cuts will pay for themselves by boosting economic growth, even though every single piece of evidence we have says that this is nonsense.

We’re talking about big numbers here. As I said, the Trump budget blowout, overwhelmingly driven by tax cuts, seems to have raised the deficit by around $300 billion, or around 1½ percent of G.D.P. Over the course of the next decade, that would amount to something like $3.8 trillion — substantially more than, for example, the combined cost of all of Elizabeth Warren’s proposals other than Medicare for All, which we’re still waiting to hear about.

And the truth is that proposals like universal child care are far more likely than tax cuts to repay a significant fraction of their upfront costs, partly by freeing up adults to work, partly by improving the lives of children in ways that will make them more productive adults.

The point is that the media clearly leans conservative in covering budget issues. Progressives face intense grilling over the cost of fairly modest social programs, while conservatives get a virtual free pass on budget-busting tax cuts.

More at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/opinion/us-budget-deficit.html

[ritapria]

1. The Corporate Media are Economic Royalists

They know where their Bread is buttered and report accordingly

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. But tax cuts

The well to do got their tax cuts.

[PatrickforO]

3. Krugman, another favorite!

And right on here.

[napi21]

4. I'm eeing all thoe tax cut go BY-BY as soon as a Dem steps into the WH! As they should.

All those rich boys got 4 years of the gravy train and now the real world is coming back. They'll get over it.

[Hekate]

8. Depends if the Senate remains majority GOP and/or takes the House back

We tend to swing every two years, as voters "send a message"

[napi21]

18. You're right pf course, BUT, I've heard 3 times just today that the Pugs are afraid there will be a

complete washout in 2020. They're afraid th Dems will keep the House, take the Senate & win the Presidency. Obviously I couldn't keep the bug grin off my face when I heard that. OHHHH, how I hope they're right!

[JoeOtterbein]

5. K n R!!!!

Perfect article at the perfect time! Thanks for posting!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. It doesn't help we have people on our side parroting the same crapola.

[BeyondGeography]

7. Agreed

Lots. Learned helplessness is a thing.

[BeckyDem]

13. +1

[Act_of_Reparation]

14. +10000.9999999999999

BUT LIEK HOW R WE GUNNA PAY 4 MEDCARE 4 ALL STOOPID PROGRESSIVE?

[SleeplessinSoCal]

9. this quote too needs sharing...

"It tells us a lot about economics, politics — specifically the utter hypocrisy of the G.O.P. — and the news media, which on economic matters has a de facto conservative bias."

[calimary]

10. Yep.

[SunSeeker]

11. K & R

[dansolo]

12. Neither side should get away with it

I expect our side to have some semblance of fiscal responsibility. That is what has disappointed me the most about Elizabeth Warren. I know she knows better. Not only is there nowhere near enough tax revenues to cover Medicare For All, she and Bernie have come up with several more things that have no clear funding. We can't keep trillion dollar defecits going forever.

[ProfessorPlum]

15. Oh F these ignorant GOP talking points

Deficits, as Dick Cheney said, don't matter that much.

And if we pay off the debt, our currency could actually disappear. That was Greenspan's concern during the surplus years under Clinton.

Plus, taxes will have to go up for Medicare for all. But it will be a major net savings overall.

[dansolo]

16. "Deficits don't matter" IS a Republican talking point

Are you actually using Dick Fucking Cheney to defend your argument???

[ProfessorPlum]

17. No it's not.

Republicans always weep about the deficit when a Democrat is in office. But deficits don't really matter tin policy in the grand scheme.