deficits and the great recession: Krugman

The nature of America's troubles is easy to state.

We're in the aftermath of a severe financial crisis,

which has led to mass job destruction. The only thing

that's keeping us from sliding into a second Great

Depression is deficit spending. And right now we need

more of that deficit spending because millions of

American lives are being blighted by high unemployment,

and the government should be doing everything it can to

bring unemployment down.

In the long run, however, even the U.S. government has

to pay its way. And the long-run budget outlook was

dire even before the recent surge in the deficit,

mainly because of inexorably rising health care costs.

Looking ahead, we're going to have to find a way to run

smaller, not larger, deficits.

Paul Krugman.

Read the entire essay here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/opinion/29krugman.html?ref=opinion