Discover GOP Opprobrium

[teapeebubbles]

LEARNING THE WRONG LESSONS, FOLLOWING THE WRONG EXAMPLES....

Just this week, in an emailed newsletter, the Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti offered an economic model he'd like to see the United States follow.

"[I]t's worth noting that in recent years German leaders have followed macroeconomic policies vastly different from those prescribed by Paul Krugman and his various Mini-Me's. And Germany is doing fine -- better than fine, in fact. Doesn't that count for something? And isn't it worth trying a different approach to fiscal policy, in the name of "bold persistent experimentation," when two years of economic stimulus have left us with 9 percent unemployment, trillion-dollar-plus deficits, and red ink for as far as the eye can see?"


Now, as stimulus analyses go, this is pretty silly. The evidence is overwhelming that unemployment would be far worse had it not been for the Recovery Act. For that matter, the point wasn't to reduce the deficit; the point was to increase it temporarily while focusing on economic growth and job creation. The right doesn't have to like it, but the stimulus did exactly what it set out to do.

But more important is the notion that the U.S. should be following Germany's lead. The New York Times' David Leonhardt explained why American policymakers would be wise to avoid Continetti's advice.

Remember the German economic boom of 2010?

Germany's economic growth surged in the middle of last year, causing commentators both there and here to proclaim that American stimulus had failed and German austerity had worked. Germany's announced budget cuts, the commentators said, had given private companies enough confidence in the government to begin spending their own money again.

Well, it turns out the German boom didn't last long. With its modest stimulus winding down, Germany's growth slowed sharply late last year, and its economic output still has not recovered to its prerecession peak. Output in the United States -- where the stimulus program has been bigger and longer lasting -- has recovered. This country would now need to suffer through a double-dip recession for its gross domestic product to be in the same condition as Germany's.



Republicans in Congress continue to insist Germany not only got it right, but that we should do as the Germans did. Indeed, Continetti summarized the GOP line nicely: Germany implemented the kind of policies Republicans prefer, and it's "doing fine -- better than fine, in fact."

Except, it's not. The Republican line is backwards, bogus, and blind.