A nation’s economy is always a work of complexity, which accounts for the divergent opinions of economists who often come down on different sides of the big issues, as in what works and what doesn’t. Broadly speaking, the conflict is between classic and Keynesian economics, with a former of the view that the market is self-regulating, and the latter of the view that the market isn’t self-regulating, but must be massaged and managed by public policies.
The latest stimulus package is Keynesian, after British economist John Maynard Keynes, as was the bailout of the banks and financial entities. It seeks to influence events by an aggressive, expansionist fiscal policy. But it seems like this is less stimulus than stopgap, for it seeks to stimulate something that is in an almost deadly shape.
Look at it this way, if your heart stops and you’re given a powerful jolt of electricity, your heart may resume beating, but the problem is hardly solved. You don’t need a defibrillator unless the system — the body — is in an advanced state of collapse. Until the fundamentals can be recognized and corrected, these problems will continue and the economy will sputter along until the next heart attack. From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
