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Larry Kudlow - Which would give a bigger jolt to the economy: lower taxes or bigger government spending?
Greg Mankiw - Well the standard textbook Keynesian theory suggests that if you're interested in increasing aggregate demand, a dollar of government spending is going to generate more demand than a dollar of tax cuts but there's actually some evidence that suggests that's not exactly true....that tax cuts may do more in terms of stimulating private investment than will government spending. And so I think the really[sic] question is what's the government spending the money on and is it things we really need. If it's things we need and are useful that's fine. But if there not things we need it's probably better to use the money for tax cuts.
I think it's important to once in a while post Mankiw's fence-sitting, wack-ademic cant.
Greg, Big Government gimp that he is, thinks we need only deal with *how the government* spends our money. He won't dare call the public treasury what it is - ill-gotten, un-Constitutional confiscation.
You see, Congress shouldn't have the money in the first place. The question of what they do with it post-theft is at once a deflection and a submission.
Larry Kudlow's tack is transparent. To further his *advocacy journalism*, he hauls up willing stooges like Greg Mankiw (and buffoon Jerry Bowyer), flatters them ("number 1 economics blogger in America"), and tries to get them to agree with his tireless perma-bull agenda.
Yeah, I'm for *tax cuts* Larry. But I don't need to propagandize and adorn my arguments with unctuous pseudo-intellectuals from Harvard.
Larry, Mankiw didn't give you one straight answer. And why would he? You didn't (couldn't?) challenge him in the slightest.
Larry Kudlow - Isn't it better to have a broad-based permanent tax cut?
Greg Mankiw - I think there are different points of view on that....If you had a bunch of economists in a room you're going to get seven opinions from six economists. So there's no real consensus on that.
Thanks, Greg. Your value-added is off the charts!
