Kevin Hassett
Why The GOP Muzzled The Library of Congress's Research Agency
Conservative Inequality Denialism
Nope, No Serious Economic Arguments Here
When Conservatives Loved Keynes
While researching an item from earlier this morning -- yes, I do research, I just try to avoid talking to people -- I came across a fascinating exchange about the concept of economic stimulus. In 2001, the economy was undergoing a mild slowdown. Liberals generally argued that the scale of the problem was small enough for the Federal Reserve to handle with monetary policy, and didn't require a Keynesian fiscal stimulus. Conservatives took the opposite position. READ MORE >>
The Rise Of Debt Ceiling Denial
Carrie Bordoff Brown has a good story about the increasingly widespread belief among conservatives that failing to lift the debt ceiling would have no important economic consequences: They are the newest breed of government skeptics, the swelling ranks of Republicans who don’t believe the Obama administration when it says a failure to raise the debt limit will prove catastrophic. READ MORE >>
Lindsey Graham Joins the Loonies
The U.S. appears to be the only country in the developed world that forbids its government from accumulating debt without authorizing legislation. And that’s led to some scary moments, including one that the economist Henry Aaron shared with me recently. READ MORE >>
Game of Chicken
The tax-cut war is over for now. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal has been signed into law. The New START treaty has been ratified. But another big battle between Democrats and Republican is looming. The subject is something most Americans have likely never heard of—the debt ceiling. And, unlike the lame-duck battles that somehow found their way to happy conclusions, this one could very easily end in disaster. READ MORE >>
Budget 36,000
Kevin Hassett, the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, former McCain campaign economic advisor, and co-author of Dow 36,000, has a column waxing indignant that Democrats would say they inherited the budget deficit from the Bush administration. READ MORE >>
