There has been an economic coup d'etat, and no one seems to have noticed. After pundits gave tax cuts decades to prove their economic worth, those experts have been quick to declare Keynesian stimulus economics a failure after only a few years. Seemingly overnight, budget hawks seized the initiative and implemented an economic policy of austerity that slows down the recovery but does not address the high unemployment problem.
A brief refresher course on “Economic Budget Deficits 101” is in order. Spending and revenue don't need to match, but they should be close enough to hold deficits to a reasonable percentage of the nation's gross domestic product. Over the past few years, the current deficit has come into focus quickly, but there has been no pronounced increase in spending for the programs facing the budget ax. There are two expensive wars as well as inflation-driven increases in medical costs. Also, federal stimulus spending added to the deficit but saved the auto industry, staunched the hemorrhaging in the financial industry and kept thousands of workers off the unemployment line.