Karl W. Smith, Columnist

Are Republicans Ready to Respond to a Recession?

Democrats have some ideas for an economic stimulus, but the opposing party hasn’t really joined the debate.

This isn’t the only way to provide jobs.

Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg
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If the U.S. economy falls into recession, it is going to take more than the Federal Reserve to revive it. That means Congress — specifically, Republican members of Congress — should start thinking now about what kind of economic stimulus plan they favor.

This will require a change of mindset. Some conservatives oppose any fiscal stimulus at all, either because they think monetary policy alone is sufficient to stabilize the economy or because they believe the government should simply let the recession “play out.” Both of these views are fundamentally misguided.