Re: generational accounting/kotlikoff

[BILL MITCHELL <ECWFM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

L Moss comments on the permanency of returns on G spending:

>My position is that relatively speaking government spending (regardless of
>how it is financed) tends to bequeath to future generations much less of
>permanent value.  Hence despite all the government spending in Holland,
>last week the population learned that the dikes/canals/dams needed
>reinforcement!

 A full answer is deserved but I have not the time this morning. But have you
been and livel in the NL. I think you should. while the dykes maybe old, there
are still several examples of publicly provided permanent benefits - education
system, health system, road system, bike path system, canal system, urban
housing system, the way industry restructuring is managed (have a read of how
they coped with the decline the coal industry and turned regions into
alternative industrial bases, to name notable ones. You picked a bad example
I think. The NL is good example of what an active public sector can do.

i wonder if you have also figured in your accounting the negatives. who
pollutes and degrades the environment more? who leaves kids washed up without
jobs? to foreshadow but a few other points.

kind regards
bill
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