Rebels Without a Clue
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The professor Paul Krugman gets it exactly right in his New York Times opinion today, Rebels Without a Clue:
This may be the way the world ends — not with a bang but with a temper tantrum.
[Paraphrasing T.S. Eliot's The Hollow Men: "This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper.]
O.K., a temporary government shutdown — which became almost inevitable
after Sunday’s House vote to provide government funding only on
unacceptable conditions — wouldn’t be the end of the world. But a U.S.
government default, which will happen unless Congress raises the debt
ceiling soon, might cause financial catastrophe. Unfortunately, many
Republicans either don’t understand this or don’t care.
Let’s talk first about the economics.
After the government shutdowns of 1995 and 1996
many observers concluded that such events, while clearly bad, aren’t
catastrophes: essential services continue, and the result is a major
nuisance but no lasting harm. That’s still partly true, but it’s
important to note that the Clinton-era shutdowns took place against the
background of a booming economy. Today we have a weak economy, with
falling government spending one main cause
of that weakness. A shutdown would amount to a further economic hit,
which could become a big deal if the shutdown went on for a long time.
Still, a government shutdown looks benign compared with the possibility
that Congress might refuse to raise the debt ceiling.