The stench of moral decay, especially in politics, is creeping across America

[David Horn]

(03-01-2021, 03:57 PM)Einzige Wrote: The notion that tax cuts are stimulatory is actually a badrardization of Keynes. Monetarsm is, in fact, a Keynesian variant- Friedman et al. accepted the basis premise of Keynes that the velocity of money in the system was the issue behind depressions, but thought that tax cuts could function just as well as State spending.  Monetarist neoliberalism, Keynesian conservatism- these really *are* functionally identical things.

The pre-monetarist fiscal orthodoxy coming out of the 19th century in the West was, to the contrary, *not* stimulatory in nature.

Yes, Friedman did believe that the laissez faire tax cut was as powerful and less onerous than direct government intervention through spending programs.  We tried it starting with Reagan, and it failed -- several times.  The idea that "the market" will move the money to the right place has been proven wrong, but the money guys benefit from the tax cuts.  This idea will die a very slow death.