You can’t call it fuzzy math when the Federal Reserve chief endorses your economic policy. After Alan Greenspan gave his blessing to the idea of a broad tax cut last week, you could practically see the smirking in the Oval Office. The Washington Post said you could almost hear the sound of ice cracking across the capital.
For several years Alan Greenspan has been obsessive about the importance of debt reduction in the American economy and he gave Democrats like Bill Clinton some cover in standing against big Republican tax cuts. So that deep crunching noise in Washington is the sound of the king of the Fed changing his mind about fiscal policy in light of bigger surplus projections. It’s also the sound of Democrats warming to the idea of tax reduction and maybe the sound of Republicans with a mandate suddenly on the march.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Greg Mankiw, Professor of Economics at Harvard University
David Wessel, Washington Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal
Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics at Princeton University
and James K. Galbraith, Professor of Public Affairs and Government