Must read from Interfluidity

 Even in a depression, cutting expenditures to entrenched interests that make poor use of real resources can be beneficial. Even in a boom, high value public goods can be worth their cost in whatever private activity is crowded out to purchase them. Rather than focusing on “how much to spend”, we should be thinking about “what to do”. ... If we do smart things, we will do well. If we do stupid things, or if we hope for markets to figure things out while nothing much gets done, the world will unravel beneath us. We have intellectual work to do that goes beyond choosing a deficit level. The austerity/stimulus debate is make-work for the chattering classes. It’s conspicuous cogitation that avoids the hard, simple questions. What, precisely, should we do that we are not yet doing? What are the things we do now that we should stop doing? And how can we make those changes without undermining the deep social infrastructure of our society, resources like legitimacy, fairness, and trust?

Ummm, yeah, what he said. I've been trying to make that point for six months now, but Stever just blew me away with how well he presented the argument.

Previously:
"My biggest criticism is the assumption that the fiscal stimulus will be spent in value-creating projects / activities--I simply don't think politicians can be trusted to do this." -- From my review of The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics

"Sometimes I really wonder if policymakers understand that the best and most sustainable path to increasing your wealth is not to take someone else's, it's to create your own." -- China, bubbles trade-wars and balance of payments

"For example, if RMB 100 is borrowed to build a railroad, the debt is sustainable if the railroad creates net economic value to China of RMB 100 or more. If it doesn’t, the difference must be considered net debt that one way or another must be paid for by Chinese households." -- Pettis on debt-fueled stimulus