Fiscal Policy vs. Economic Policy
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When I've discussed economic issues with my Democratic friends, they've invariably pointed to the enormous budget deficit as an evidence of Bush's bad "economic" policy.
Bill Hobbs points out that they're not the same thing (though I feel he's whitewashing Bush's awful budget increases by downplaying them):
The federal budget is not the economy. ... The budget is how the government's annual spending plan. The economy, on the other hand, is the country's system of production and distribution and consumption.
Yes, it's really bad that Bush has increased spending (including things totally unrelated to the War on Terrorism) and created a grossly unbalanced budget.
And someone will have to pay that bill eventually (a bigger tax base, reduced spending, higher taxes, devalued currency, defaulting on debt, etc.) with possibly dire consequences.
But just because there's a dollar sign in front of the deficit doesn't mean it falls under economic policy.
Trade, unemployment, wages, inflation, the stock market, new housing starts, et al. ... those are economic issues. And Bush hasn't done a great job with most of them, so there's ample opportunity to bash him on that front.
(via Keith Devens)
In this case the two are somewhat tied. Bush's disasterous economic policy of tax cuts for the wealthy is creating a disasterous budget. Taxes are definately economic policy as they shift spending enducements.
Posted by: petrilli on September 8, 2004 9:32 PM | permalinkOne correction.
> And someone will have to pay that bill eventually (a bigger tax base, reduced spending, higher taxes, devalued currency, defaulting on debt, etc.) with possibly dire consequences.
Actually, spending can keep increasing (not that I want it to), taxes can stay the same, and we can still get rid of the deficit. As long as government spending grows at a slower rate than the economy (which it hasn't under Bush, incidentally), we can grow out of the deficit. That's how we've gotten out of them in the past. The deficit is *not* a problem long term if congress can stop spending our money recklessly.
I'd like to put in before I go that, overall, I think Bush's economic policies have been good.
Posted by: Keith on September 10, 2004 12:28 AM | permalinkKeith:
That's what I meant by "a bigger tax base"; perhaps I should have lumped that in with the other solutions.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on September 10, 2004 8:14 AM | permalinkNo more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.