On Feb 13, 2008, at 12:06 PM, Julio Huato wrote:
Louis Proyect wrote:
I thought it was fairly shrewd of him [David Brooks] to make the case
that the next Democratic president will run the country like Bill
Clinton,
whether it is his wife or that "change" guy.
It's not shrewdness. It's wishful thinking.
By almost any orthodox economic measure, the U.S. is due for an
austerity program. The consumption share of GDP is over 70%, up from
67% a decade ago, and 62% at the end of the 1970s. There was an
unprecedented housing boom and massive mortgage borrowing. Household
savings are 0 and the current account is a wreck. The currency is
sagging. What is any president who takes office on 1/20/09 likely to
do? A Dem - female or black - is the perfect instrument for a
homegrown structural adjustment program.
Doug
