WASHINGTON The boasts of Congressional Republicans about their cost-cutting victories are ringing hollow to some well-known economists, financial analysts and corporate leaders, including some Republicans, who are expressing increasing alarm over Washingtons new austerity and antitax orthodoxy. Enlarge This Image Win McNamee/Getty Images House Majority Leader Eric Cantor issued a defensive memo. Multimedia
TimesCast | Republican Economics
Graphic Members of the Bipartisan Deficit Panel Related
Economix Blog: Do Congress and the White House Deserve an AA+ Rating? (August 12, 2011) Related in Opinion
Editorial: Magical Unrealism (August 13, 2011) Blow: Genuflecting to the Tea Party (August 13, 2011) Andersen: We, Robot (August 13, 2011) Readers Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (375) » Their critiques have grown sharper since last week, when President Obama signed his deficit reduction deal with Republicans and, a few days later, when Standard & Poors downgraded the credit rating of the United States.
But even before that, macroeconomists and private sector forecasters were warning that the direction in which the new House Republican majority had pushed the White House and Congress this year for immediate spending cuts, no further stimulus measures and no tax increases, ever was wrong for addressing the nations two main ills, a weak economy now and projections of unsustainably high federal debt in coming years.
Instead, these critics say, Washington should be focusing on stimulating the economy in the near term to induce people to spend money and create jobs, while settling on a long-term plan for spending cuts and tax increases to take effect only after the economy recovers.
But Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail refuse to back down.
Economists disagree about the proper balance between spending cuts and tax increases in reducing a governments debts. Some studies by both liberal and conservative economists suggest that emphasizing spending cuts is better for long-term growth. But there are few if any precedents for paying down such a large debt solely through spending cuts.
Among those calling for a mix of cuts and revenue are onetime standard-bearers of Republican economic philosophy like Martin Feldstein, an adviser to President Ronald Reagan, and Henry M. Paulson Jr., Treasury secretary to President George W. Bush, underscoring the deepening divide between party establishment figures and the Tea Party-inspired Republicans in Congress and running for the White House.
I think the U.S. has every chance of having a good year next year, but the politicians are doing their damnedest to prevent it from happening the Republicans are and the Democrats to my eternal bafflement have not stood their ground, Ian C. Shepherdson, chief United States economist for High Frequency Economics, a research firm, said in an interview.
As for the longer term, Ethan Harris, co-head of global economics research at Bank of America, wrote this week that Given the scale of the debt problem, a credible plan requires both revenue enhancement measures and entitlement reform. Washingtons recent debt deal did not include either.
Click for Full Text!