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“Stimulus” or Trojan Horse?
There’s a meme going around that the only really effective part of the “stimulus” bill for actually helping the economy is whatever portion of it is “targeted, temporary and timely.” See David Brooks, apparently reborn as a dyed-in-the-wool Keynesian.
First, the stimulus should be timely. The money should go out “almost immediately.” Second, it should be targeted. … Third, it should be temporary. Stimulus measures should not raise the deficits “beyond a short horizon of a year or at most two.”
Thanks for Econ 101! Brooks continues:
In a fateful decision, Democratic leaders merged the temporary stimulus measure with their permanent domestic agenda — including big increases for Pell Grants, alternative energy subsidies and health and entitlement spending. The resulting package is part temporary and part permanent, part timely and part untimely, part targeted and part untargeted.
It’s easy to see why Democrats decided to do this. They could rush through permanent policies they believe in. Plus, they could pay for them with borrowed money.
Well, yeah.
And here we have this Ryan Avent fellow, who echoes the targeted-temporary-timely CW:
that there are actually multiple criticisms coming from the right, some of which are more valid than others. If enough Senators can be peeled away to get the bill through by improving how the bill performs on the three Ts — timely, targeted, and temporary — then there’s no problem seeking compromise. But many Republicans have basically no interest in producing a good stimulus bill. …
