My Letter to the NY Times re: Krugman's "Myths of Austerity"

From: patrickbarron@msn.com
To: letters@nytimes.com
Subject: Letter re: Myths of Austerity
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 09:32:55 -0400

Re: Myths of Austerity by Paul Krugman

Dear Sirs:
In his attempt to belittle those G-20 nations who spurn more wasteful stimulus spending, Mr. Paul Krugman resorts simply to name-calling and labeling (fantasy, prejudices, sheer speculation), with no substantive empirical or theoretical analysis. His evidence that more stimulus spending is the "...safest bet in a stumbling economy..." is a vague quote by the director of the Congressional Budget Office that "There is no intrinsic contradiction between providing additional fiscal stimulus today, while the unemployment rate is high and many factories and offices are underused, and imposing fiscal restraint several years from now, when output and employment will probably be close to their potential." Well, now, that is a real ringing endorsement for more paper money stimulus if ever I heard one. And equating Ireland as an example of a failed attempt at austerity is hardly convincing. It is clear that Mr. Krugman is determined to pump more paper money stimulus into the all-ready addicted U.S. economy until it collapses, at which time he undoubtedly will claim that even this was not enough.

Patrick Barron