2012 Election Thread

[ErikaG]

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[Xcal]

Yea but who cares about that $3 trillion... Defense technology was boooming dude! WE got to break out all of our new r/c planes and our sweet secret ops gear. Plus satellite imagery went off the chain, we can map Afghan and Iraq with the click of a finger on our iphones now, Shiites sweet!

[CandiceC.]

According to Keynesian economics the government can very much influence the economy. Government spending, Private domestic investment, personal consumption expenditures, and net exports are all factors that make up our economy's aggregate demand curve. The government can alter the levels of investment by raising or lowering interest rates. It can affect consumption by raising or lowering taxes. It can increase or decrease government spending, and it can certainly change the nations exports/imports.

The aggregate demand curve significantly affects our nations output and employment level, and increasing it can make a noticeable change. Unfortunately our level of debt is so high right now, beyond any reasonable amount I'd say, that it messed everything up and I would definitely not suggest increasing government spending as a method of increasing aggregate demand right now. At the same time, we need to reel that debt in, so how can we decrease taxes?

Note that a lot of people disagree with Keynesian economics, and unfortunately it's all that I know right now. So if anyone knows another type and can tear this ideology apart please do I wanna hear it

[rɑwr . ϟ]

I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but that sounRAB like some exam question from a basic macro class.....the type of question that makes endless assumptions to provide that it can be effectively answered. Keynesian economics is becoming more and more outdated with the advent of more and more issues with the modern economy. That's why various other economists have developed adapted, more sound theories...like Friedman and Krugman (Krugman's new model won the Nobel).

Yes, the government affects the economy. That being said, you can't rely solely on Keynes to analyze the effects. Keynes essentially just says that (vis a vis Mercantilism) sometimes the private sector cannot operate efficiently by itself, thus we have active fiscal policy by the government and active monetary policy by the Fed.

[Ryan]

Haha it essentially is. My explanation is based off of the A.P. Econ class I took last year. I was just trying to say that the government can very well affect our economy and the job market. And I feel that most political leaders appear to have zero knowledge of this fact. I mean how could government debt grow this large, seemingly with no purpose for the debt, and no solution to this debt in the future? Would like to hear the principles behind some other economic theories if you know em.

Wouldn't government spending have to be significantly decreased at the same time taxes are raised in order for our debt to be eradicated? That sucks.

Side note: has anyone seen Inside Job? A documentary narrated by Matt Damon about the late 2000s financial crisis and all that subprime mortgage ish.

[♥laNoviaDeTito♥]

Ron Paul or bust, I changed my registration from libertarian to republican to vote in the primaries. I cannot stand Obama, or any other GOP candidate. If he does not get the bid I am writing him in to send what little message I can.

Paul is the only one to my knowledge that is not corrupt. And rather than taking a multimillion dollar vacation to Hawaii for Christmas he'll reduce his pay from 400k to 40k.

[natalia f]

Yeah, how could our government debt grow this large? With no purpose for the debt?

CONSPIRACY!!

[mussolini_linguini]

Its interesting how everyone seems to tie the economic status of the wealthiest nation in the world to only one man...

[TinaLou]

Ron Paul. He's the only one talking about monetary policy which affects our economy the most. He's also part of the few who defended Wikileaks...Plus he opposes the National Defense Authorization Act which is a huge plus in my book.

[Muzik]

Obama Bush and Clinton and Bush and Reagan and Carter and Ford and Nixon and Johnson been tag teaming this bitch with the defense energy and intelligence agencies, and one of them had Henry IV, now it's all infected.