Those who read the Washington Post's measured editorial on stimulus one week ago, whose sub-head was "Fiscal stimulus may eventually be needed, but there are pitfalls," may be surprised to read today's editorial with the subhead "Everyone agrees the economy needs a government boost ..." Wow, what a difference a week makes! All the hesitance and caution from last week's editorial have disappeared (although Martin Feldstein's now antiquated trigger mechanism does make a cameo appearance in the last paragraph), the only issue is the details. We also all agree that $150 billion is the right number. That's great news in my book, but all the level-headed folks in Washington were saying that $70 billion was the right number last week. What changed in a week? Well, the housing market is crashing louder than the Washington hacks thought possible. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is now calling for Congress to act quickly and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is saying that the economy "desperately" needs stimulus. In other words, the expletive deleted [we're a family friendly blog] is hitting the fan. It would be nice if the Post editorial board would have the honesty to acknowledge that it and its designated "experts" don't have a clue.
--Dean Baker
