June 30, 2007
The former US Secretary of Labour in Bill Clinton's first term has an excellent op ed in the Financial Times( fiscal balance is a false economy, June 29th, 2007, p.9) arguing that the Democratic party candidates for President should join with John Edwards and call for a 3% deficit to GDP in order to reinivest in education and physical and social infrastructure.
As Reich puts it,
"Democrats have become the official party of fiscal austerity...The nation's investment deficit is now much larger than it was in 1992.`" Parents are hard pressed to pay college tuition, millions of Americans lack health insurance and physical infrastructure has deteriorated.
"Yet, congressional Democrats have learned the wrong lesson from the 1990s. They have concluded(wrongly) that cutting budget deficits and balancing budgets is a sure fire formula for widespread prosperity.`"
This is a very welcome endorsement of the policy that I have been advocating for a long time now.
Reich correctly points out as I have that these expenditures are actually investments and should be treated as such.
He has called for the Democrats in Congress to rethink their fiscal conservatism calling it inappropriate for a party dedicated to helping the middle class and the poor improve their lives and the life chances of their children.
I could not agree more. Its about time that the political leadership of the Liberal party in Canada make a similar shift in policy.
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