It was only a decade ago ...
by digby
I keep seeing comments along the lines of “Keynesianism doesn’t work, because liberals keep running deficits even when times are good, and never pay debt down.”
Guys, how about looking at recent history (pdf)?
Between 1993 and 2001, federal debt held by the public fell from 49.2 percent of GDP to 32.5 percent of GDP. What stopped the paydown of debt wasn’t liberal big spending; it was demands from conservatives that the surplus be used to cut taxes. George Bush said that a surplus means that the government is collecting too much money; Alan Greenspan warned that we were paying off our debt too fast.
I believe it was a highly respected Republican leader who memorably said: "go fuck yourself" ... oh wait, I mean, "Reagan proved deficits don't matter."
Still it's good to keep that timeline straight. If only to remind yourself that you haven't died and landed in bizarroworld.
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