Each Monday and Friday morning since the beginning of the Great Recession without end, I have read Paul Krugman's column. His opinions have been precise, and precisely accurate. And depressing.
It has been a little like water torture, as the drip, drip, drip of a government unable or unwilling to recognize the severity of the crisis, or formulate a reasonable response, is chronicled in Mr. Krugman's words. There is an unrelenting sameness in his lament about the economic misdirection that has stalled the recovery and threatens to double dip us into further crisis.
Today's op-ed, "The Mistake of 2010" is unfortunately but more of the same. It is ludicrous that, in a moment in time when so many are in need of a jump start, the focus of our discussion is on how much less the government should be spending. We are taking jobs away from firemen, from teachers, and swelling the ranks of our unemployed. We are not undertaking new projects on our infrastructure or on alternative energy. Ways in which we can do better, individually and collectively, are lost in the chaos and the demand to cut, cut, cut.
I know that next week, on Monday and Friday, Mr. Krugman will once (actually twice) again try to inform those who are not listening to him, that they are taking us down the wrong path. "The Mistake of 2010" will undoubtedly play itself out through 2011 and beyond. And I am sure that it will be little solace to Mr. Krugman that he can report that he tried to warn us from the beginning.
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