Thursday, August 30, 2012

Ryan is Wrong... Again....

Matt Yglesias:
What I think is actually implausible here isn't anything Paul Ryan said about Janesville per se, it's his larger implication that following Paul Ryan's policy prescriptions would have boosted industrial production. Ryan is one of the few members of the House of Representatives who's actually articulated an idea that would have had a clear impact on this kind of situation, and it was a terrible idea—calling for an interest rate hike in October 2010. Had we followed his advice, domestic demand for automobiles and other consumer durables would have tumbled while the pricier dollar would have made American exports and import-competing manufactured goods less attractive. That would have been a double blow to industrial production, essentially ensuring more closed factories rather than fewer.
And Ryan is considered by most Republicans to be an economic heavyweight.  Well, I suppose that in Republican circles, "economic heavyweight" is a pretty low bar... There's not much competition.  To the rest of the economic community, he's an idiot.

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