Yale Economist Robert Shiller says the focus on austerity by governments around the world is similar to what happened late in the Great Depression — and he says such a focus is part of why the Depression lasted as long as it did. “It doesn’t bode well,” Shiller tells Morgan Housel of The Motley Fool in discussing the current climate of austerity. “What we really need to do is to have stimulus, and we have… Read More
The need for stimulus and the reluctance to increase the national deficit — it’s these two concepts that many feel are leaving the U.S. in an untenable position. But Yale Economist Robert Shiller says there is a way to provide stimulus without increasing the national deficit. “A critical fallacy … has crept into our thinking: We have become habituated to the idea that Keynesian fiscal stimulus has to take the form of deficit spending,” Shiller… Read More