Today in the New York Times, he is calling for a second stimulus. That was entertaining reading. By asking for a second stimulus, he is admitting that the first stimulus of 800 billion dollars of tax payer money did not work. In his column, he argues that we need to address the growing crisis of deflation.
Memo to Paul Krugman: We don't need a second stimulus until we fix the first stimulus. I have been saying for months that the first stimulus is inherently flawed because it has failed to do the very thing that Obama administration said it should do. Get the money in the hands of states, counties, and municipalities to start "shovel ready" projects. By starting "shovel ready" (I love that term, but, what does it mean?) projects we will put contractors, construction workers, building trades, and engineers back to work quickly..
Well, here in Connecticut the building season is upon us and.... no stimulus money. Why? Because bureaucracy rules the day with any government organization, especially the federal government.
The feds have made it so onerous and difficult to understand how to access stimulus money, that most municipalities are dumbfounded on the process. Rules, reporting requirements, and general torture for local department heads are the hallmark of the first stimulus mess.
A second stimulus would be worthless at this point because only a small fraction of the infrastructure money has been disbursed some six months after passage of ARRA- the first stimulus program.
If a second stimulus were to pass, a community might see some dollars in 2020...
At that pace, what is the point of mortgaging the future of our children and our children's children?
Can anyone say "Tea Party?"..
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