There was a time when labor was treated as a capital good, and it ended with the Emancipation Proclamation.

Bring that schedule forward through issuing more debt at record-low interest rates, and bang, you've solved several problems at once. People have jobs, they spend money, that helps the economy, and we get the infrastructure out of it as well.

You'll even get some of that inflation that's been missing during the QE period, while all the fed economists looked at their macro textbooks in utter confusion.

What's interesting is that through greasing the wheels of the economy via infrastructure investments (e.g. better broadband, connected/wired roadways, upgraded utilities and transportation hubs) you would see productivity gains which, over time, would further diminish the value of labor.

Have always been interested in how long-term goals of social/economic policy should influence short-term decision making, but there aren't any easy answers.

Calling it '4 trillion' is technically correct but I find that taking out the passthru social programs (SS, medicare, medicaid) leaves you with the real number of what's available to allocate differently. Hard to say that we could pay for something out of SS benefits while still collecting FICA tax, and if you want to eliminate the program entirely that's a different discussion.

I don't agree. G has been reduced considerably recently. Under Bill Clinton, G was higher and the U.S. ran a budget surplus.

It's an old tactic: Cut taxes (now to historically low levels) and then say the country can't afford to pay for anything. The solution is to increase taxes. The U.S. economy is the largest in history (for the U.S. or any nation); the nation can afford more G than it ever could before.

All the money is concentrated in the hands of a few, but as long as they pay their share the federal budget, at least, shouldn't be a problem.

The trust issue is like this: If we expand government to get the economy moving, then once demand picks up, we have to shrink the government back down. Do I trust Congress to do that? Absolutely not.

Good fucking grief, HN is full of naïve idealists.