Culture Wars Era - is it moving into its final phase?

[David Horn]

(01-26-2017, 10:07 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(01-26-2017, 09:48 PM)David Horn Wrote: Government outlays always rise to offset at least some of the general economic decline during a recession.  Some of it is automatic, like unemployment insurance, and some is legislated.  Add to that, the decline in revenue due to lower incomes and reduced economic activity, and you get huge deficits.  That's a feature of proper government, not a bug.

While automatic spending increases were a small part of it, the main driver of the increased deficits was ill considered pork barrel spending initiatives that delayed the recovery for years by displacing more productive private sector spending.

Crowding out, which is your argument, has a tell tale sign: high and rising interest rates.  If money is in short supply, then the demand triggers rate hikes.  In other words, if you want my money, you'll have to pay me for it!

That didn't happen.  It's only starting to happen now, and it's still mild by historical standards.