Economic theories are often utterly ridiculous. One claim that seems particularly implausible to me is that of the Keynesian belief in stimulus spending . In short, stimulus spending is the belief that when the economy has slowed, and unemployment is high, the government has an imperative to remedy the situation by increasing spending on anything that will get people to work. John Maynard Keynes half-jokingly proposed that hiring someone to dig a hole and fill it back up would have a stimulative effect on the economy.
One skeptical satirist named P.J. O'Rourke came up with the perfect Keynsian solution. The premise is simple, legalize the shooting of convenience store clerks. First, jobs would increase in the high paying domestic manufacturing sector of guns and ammunition. Furthermore, Additional security guards, emergency medical technicians and undertakers would be hired to care for the convenience store clerks. Finally unskilled job seekers would have opportunities due to the incapacitation of those currently in the workforce. Talk about a Keynsian multiplier. By using this system of logical reasoning politicians are able to justify nearly everything in terms of stimulus. On the 8th of September 2011, President Obama is scheduled to give a big speech concerning jobs. How many times will he use the very same tenuous Keynsian logic that P.J. O'Rourke jokingly put forth before giving up?
Apoplexy – sudden loss of consciousness
Bucolic – rustic
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