Me on KQED-FM

Nicely done. I'm glad you can be on that program to provide a generally little-heard perspective among that audience.

I didn't have the time to write in, but I would have responded to the Business Week writer's quip that, if private individuals are given extra money through general monetary stimulus as opposed to government-guided fiscal stimulus, they might just spend it on something frivolous like pyrotechnic displays.

The missed point is that stimulus isn't just about what it buys today. It's about rebuilding the economy of tomorrow out of the recession of today. It's about signals sent to private capital on what will be tomorrow's profitable ventures.

If someone given extra money today chooses to spend it on pyrotechnic displays, that signals to the capital markets that, once that person has extra money due to the recovery, he will likely buy pyrotechnic displays.

If any presumed necessary stimulus doesn't rapidly and broadly get into private hands, not only is that signal not made, but the priorities inherent in government-directed spending likely send exactly the wrong signals -- signals based on political goals and special interests, not on what the actual participants in the economy want.

Here is the link to the archive of this discussion.

http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R907290900