This is certainly true for the question of maintaining the Bush tax cuts. Almost to a person, the question hinges on whether the "rich" will spend their tax cuts or save it. Funny how saving is seen as a negative! But even worse is the lack of serious argument on the effects of higher marginal rates at higher income levels on labor supply, entrepreneurial effort, and investment. I had to chuckle when one liberal outlet noted that while some of the highest income tax returns are due to small business income, those returns only represent a minor percentage of all small business. How is that relevant? And maybe we should actually be concerned with those small businesses that are actually profitable?
But the frosting on the Keynesian birthday cake came today with Bill Gross' (head of PIMCO, Pacific Investment Management) propoal for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to somehow reduce mortgage rates on millions of mortgages. The rationale? Here it is:
"That [action] would obviously benefit the homeowner to the extent of one-third of its future payments,” he said.
“In terms of real dollars, it’s a $50 billion to $60 billion push or stimulus going forward. In my estimation it would lift housing prices by 2 to 5 percent, which is an important policy objective of the administration.”
So let me get this straight. Since the Federal Government has tapped out the public's appetite for borrowing and spending, let's do it by subterfuge: take from bondholders and give to homeowners. Voila! Redistribution and Keynesian stimulus all at once.
Bondholders should be furious at such ideas. If homeowners want to refinance, let them do so on their own. And if they cannot, well, that is the deal that they entered into.
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