It's taking the world by storm! Glenn Reynolds and his lovely wife, Dr. Helen, interview Gene Sperling, Hillary Clinton's main economic advisor. There's also some guy named Rudy, who seems to be running for office.
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
I am the first commenter? No way!
I listened to the podcast. Gene Sperling came across as a reasonable guy.
While we're talking about innumeracy, economic illiteracy and the like, how about this:
Dr. Helen: "I don't know, I just think that $70 billion [stimulus package proposed by Hillary] is coming out of my pocket one way or another."
One presumes that her position on the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 included no similar skepticism as to how they were being funded.
Because tax cuts and tax increases are the same? Huh?
brooksfoe - A tax cut doesn't have to be funded. Spending has to be funded. A tax cut is a reduction in the funding for spending, and arguably may be fiscally unwise in some situations but it isn't a cost, just a reduction in revenue.
Spending comes out of taxpayers pockets. Tax cuts don't, they leave more in taxpayers pockets.