I Second That Thought

I will not spend a lot of time summarizing this piece as it is relatively short and pretty much a must read. Jeffrey Sachs (a somewhat controversial figure) discusses what is wrong with our rush to stimulus. I must say I agree with everything he is saying. From running up debts that will trouble us in the future to spending money without proper regard to where it goes, there are plenty of problems with money spent to date and with the developing plans for how to spend the next $825 billion. Part of this is the usual impacts of the political process. Concessions must be made to get support. But this is a big test for Obama. He needs to push this through with minimal concessions. He needs to keep the support focused on where it can be the most productive. Certain things, i.e. tax cuts, have not worked in the past and will not work again, so we need to change our direction if we want to have any hope.

Yes, the market is up today, but my expectations remain down. The market was up on word that the new plan will buy up toxic debts from the banks that brought us here. We are becoming enablers and we will get what we deserve if we do not wise up quickly.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/35438c54-ec8a-11dd-a534-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F35438c54-ec8a-11dd-a534-0000779fd2ac.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nakedcapitalism.com%2F

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