The disagreement
«There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy» ha detto Barack Obama il 9 gennaio. Non è vero. Il "disagreement", il dissenso sulla efficacia di una politica keynesiana, c'è. Eccome. Glielo fanno notare, con un avviso a pagamento pubblicato sui maggiori quotidiani statunitensi, qualche centinaio di economisti, raccolti dal benemerito Cato Institute. I firmatari dell'appello, per rilanciare l'economia, chiedono meno tasse e meno intervento pubblico. E ricordano i precedenti fallimenti di chi ha provato a ridare impulso all'economia aumentando la spesa pubblica, come vuole fare la nuova amministrazione americana.
«Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan's "lost decade" in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth».