, Columnist
The Pump's Already Primed So Hold the Tax Cuts
Government spending on infrastructure would do more for the economy.
Didn't that guy once play the drums?
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Donald Trump has proposed cutting taxes as a way of “priming the pump” -- that is, stimulating the economy. Paul Krugman retorts that now isn't the time for stimulus; because the economy is doing fairly well right now, the pump is already flowing, so the government should wait until it runs dry to start priming.
Whether stimulus could help the economy is an interesting question, but it’s not the most important thing to be asking. The real question is whether tax cuts are the right thing to try. And the answer is probably not.