Misunderstanding Austerity, Stimulus and Demand

Here is the standard Keynesian cargo-cult analysis of our economic woes:

1. The problem is a lack of aggregate demand, i.e. people buying stuff and services.

2. As a result, the economy is running below capacity, i.e. economic output is below potential.

3. The solution is fiscal and monetary stimulus, i.e. the Central State borrowing and spending trillions on politically directed programs and the Federal Reserve printing and injecting trillions of “free money” dollars into the financial sector to boost borrowing and lending.

The cargo-cult program has failed for a number of fundamental reasons. Let’s illuminate these reasons with a few thought experiments.

Read More By Charles Hugh Smith .

Share

You must log in to post a comment.

The Sound Money Institute is and educational organization dedicated to the stability and soundness of the United States Dollar. Faced with unprecedented pressure to spend beyond its means the United States Government has pressured the Federal Reserve Bank to monetize the debt or in other words they are printing currency to fund deficit spending by the US Treasury.

Subscribe here for daily updates on the most recent news from the financial sector.