Blaming the Virtuous

This article from the New York Times engages in a little hyperbole but the point is very well taken. We still don't get it. We must make difficult choices.

The thinking in the White House and Congress imply we will resume the high life if only we can get through this difficult period. This should never be the goal of economic recovery. We should not be cooking schemes for taxpayer financed consumer spending. It is not sustainable nor is it morally responsible. Instead, our leadership should have frank discussions about the total costs of consumption with the aim of lowering economic growth to sustainable levels (i.e., no more than population growth, which is net births + in-migration).

The rest of the world that depends on the American consumer will suffer but perhaps this will get emerging economy governments to rethink their development trajectories to include really important things, like justice and equality, so that the reasons for social instability and terror may be ameliorated.

A recession can be a useful thing if it brings reality back to disneyland.