Welcome to the party, David Brooks

David Brooks continues to delight and amaze.

During the first half of this year, German and American political leaders engaged in an epic debate. American leaders argued that the economic crisis was so bad, governments should borrow billions to stimulate growth. German leaders argued that a little short-term stimulus was sensible, but anything more was near-sighted. What was needed was not more debt, but measures to balance budgets and restore confidence.

The debate got pointed. American economists accused German policy makers of risking a long depression. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, countered, “Governments should not become addicted to borrowing as a quick fix to stimulate demand.”

The two countries followed different policy paths. According to Gary Becker of the University of Chicago, the Americans borrowed an amount equal to 6 percent of G.D.P. in an attempt to stimulate growth. The Germans spent about 1.5 percent of G.D.P. on their stimulus.

This divergence created a natural experiment. Who was right?

The early returns suggest the Germans were.

Two Years Late, give a warm high-five to Trillions of Dollars Short.

Oh wait, it gets better.

The American stimulus package was supposed to create a “summer of recovery,” according to Obama administration officials. Job growth was supposed to be surging at up to 500,000 a month. Instead, the U.S. economy is scuffling along.

The German economy, on the other hand, is growing at a sizzling (and obviously unsustainable) 9 percent annual rate. Unemployment in Germany has come down to pre-crisis levels.

Results from one quarter do not settle the stimulus/austerity debate. Many other factors are in play. For example, Germany is surging, in part, because America is borrowing. Essentially, we Americans borrowed from our kids, spent some of that money on German machinery, and ended up employing German workers.

But the results do underline one essential truth: Stimulus size is not the key factor in determining how quickly a country emerges from recession. The U.S. tried big, but is emerging slowly. The Germans tried small, and are recovering nicely.

Wow.  What a stunner.  It’s so awesome that David Brooks has taken note of how unsuccessful Obama’s stimulus package has been.  You know who else has spotted this?  The Tea Parties.  Guess when they figured it out?  March…2009.

I’m not gonna quote the rest.  I was gonna Fisk the piece but I just can’t.  Even though there’s plenty more fail to be snarked on in Brooks’ piece, it’s not worth it.  It’s like shooting fish in a kiddie pool with a Daisy Cutter.

I’d just like to note, once a-fucking-gain, that David Brooks is flaming douchetool.  Captivated by Barack Obama’s pants-crease, he supported St. Barry in 2008.  No, he didn’t exactly support Obambi.  What Brooks, along with Christopher Buckley, Kathleen Parker, David Frum and a few other ‘conservative’ writers did was trash Sarah Palin and denigrate many on the right-of-center side.  Palin and her ilk were uneducated window-lickers that simply couldn’t understand-because they didn’t go to the right colleges- just how totally awesome Barack Obama was going to be as President. 

The Brooks/Frum/Parker/Buckley Axis of Rad insisted that the Obamessiah was a pragmatic centrist who would be a steady non-ideological hand at the nation’s steering wheel.  When conservatives brought up troubling evidence (Jeremiah Wright, the exchange with Joe the Plummer, Barack’s far-left voting record, Bill Ayers) that contradicted the rosy view of candidate LightBringer O’Bamster, the Axis of Rad didn’t revise their opinions.  They doubled-down on the hate for American conservatives.  The word I kept hearing attached to right-wing critics of Obama was ‘rubes’.

Well Dave, who’s the rube now?  Everything our side said about Obama in 2008 has been proven right.  Everything you and the rest of your gang told us about was gonna happen has failed to materialize.  You wanna see an uneducated idiot, David?  Try looking in a mirror.

Seriously, homeboy.  Look in a mirror.  You got a pink shirt, purpley tie and Duran Duran-era horn-rimmed glasses. What look are we going for here?  Queen of the Fake-O-La Conservative Drag Act?

Not only are you hopelessly naive, the Wal-Mart version of Carson Kressley is your stylist.  Not that there is anything wrong that, if you what I’m saying and I think you do.

I found the NYT link while perusing Instapundit’s page.  Thanks.