To Stimulate or Not to Stimulate? That is the Question...

Investor's Business Daily claims the stimulus has failed. The New York Times believes additional stimulus spending should be pursued.

Both debaters are missing the key point. This is not an economic debate. This is, as I've mentioned before, ex post storytelling. In other words, both groups, pro and con, are constructing ever evolving arguments around underlying theory mixed with the most recently released data. Bad unemployment numbers come out? Anti-stimulus folks instantly claim the spending has failed. Pro-stimulus types retort say it has mitigated more colossal economic destruction and that more is needed to alleviate further pain.

But no one knows for sure. We can't control and lab test any of this. There are no alternative universes to see what would have happened under different conditions and policies.

This was never about economics. This was always about politics. We can honestly debate the merits and faults of Keynesian ideas to no end, a debate well worth having, but let's not pretend the same thing is going on in Washington, D.C.