I've been buried for a while, as you may have noticed from the decrease in posting activity here. Intense project activity, a planned vacation, and a few unplanned events have recently taken a big toll on my writing schedule.
I intend to keep this blog going, even with my intensified time constraints. The fundamental theme will continue to be the crippling effect that false fears of deficits and debt have on the national discourse about the economy and our future.
Those false fears are played expertly, like a fiddle, by politicians and interest groups who (should) know better. Those false fears are therefore crowding out critical time for debating better ways to innovate, grow the economy, grow our real incomes, and enhance national security—all for the benefit of future generations.
This blog's basic message:
Our enemies are not deficits and debt. Our enemies are those who, for their own gain, play on fears of deficits and debt; i.e., those who place higher priority on the money than on what we get for the money. Investments today that prevent war or enhance growth, even if we choose to finance those investments with a measure of borrowing, are far more important to future generations than disinvestments today that create politically-popular, feel-good surpluses or "balanced budgets" at the expense of war prevention or growth enhancement.
Unfortunately, that message doesn't seem to be making much progress, even though I've been hammering at it for more than three years. That's disappointing, but I'll keep at it. It's an important message, even though it's counterintuitive: our grandkids will be better served if we stop obsessing about deficits and debt, and start obsessing about investing for them, growing their incomes, and enhancing their security.