Saturday, December 11, 2010

Easing Economic Efforts

The Journal Sentinel continued its march to make Paul Ryan's economic spewings seem important and credible with Ryan leads opposition to Fed's economic efforts. The Federal Reserve recently bought $600 billion Treasury securities - quantitative easing. This action, in theory, helps keep interest rates low (although they're already really low), injects money for, hopefully, increased lending, and devalues the dollar, which is good for exports.

Creditors, generally, don't like such actions - it devalues their wealth. It's often good for debtors, as it lowers the cost of their debt. In tough times, like we're in, this is one of the last tools in the Fed's arsenal to boost the economy, priming the pump, so to speak.

But, because it's an action taken by the Government (well, in this case, the Fed) it must be bad, according to Paul Ryan and Republican logic (wait, is that an oxymoron?). For Republicans, monetary policy should only be concerned with price stability (a primary concern for the Haves) - a low, predictable rate of inflation - which translates into stable asset prices. They're not really concerned with full employment (a primary concern for the Have-Nots) - trying to make sure there are enough jobs for everyone who wants to work.

Such an attitude is typical of those with a blind faith in trickle-down. Always maneuvering to help the owners of capital with the belief it will benefit us all. Real-life experience has shown this is a fantasy. Yet right-wingers still cling to and claim their vision, their supple-side dogma, is the path to the promised land. And, apparently the Journal feels this is a credible opinion to continually interject into our discussion regarding the economy.

Now that $810 million of investment in Wisconsin has been lost due to Scott Walker's idiocy, any help the Government can inject into the economy is appreciated by those of us with even a slight awareness of the hardships many U.S. citizens are facing. We are in the second worst slump this country has faced in its history. This in no time to protect prices for the uber wealthy while imposing austerity on working citizens.

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