NSFW

I think this is mostly bullshit, but it’s fun to think about. (Wall Street Journal)

Now is not the time to cut the deficit. (N.Y. Times)

Paul Krugman, economist, believes—despite improving economic indicators—that the economy has a bad future and that we need to continue stimulus programs. Otherwise, we face worsening the economy—just like 1937 in the Great Depression:

During the good years of the last decade, such as they were, growth was driven by a housing boom and a consumer spending surge. Neither is coming back. There can’t be a new housing boom while the nation is still strewn with vacant houses and apartments left behind by the previous boom, and consumers — who are $11 trillion poorer than they were before the housing bust — are in no position to return to the buy-now-save-never habits of yore.

What’s left? A boom in business investment would be really helpful right now. But it’s hard to see where such a boom would come from: industry is awash in excess capacity, and commercial rents are plunging in the face of a huge oversupply of office space.

Can exports come to the rescue? For a while, a falling U.S. trade deficit helped cushion the economic slump. But the deficit is widening again, in part because China and other surplus countries are refusing to let their currencies adjust.