Economics as a discipline has been pretty relaxed about the need for state intervention in some cases and the idea that some government debt can be good - these

Economics as a discipline has been pretty relaxed about the need for state intervention in some cases and the idea that some government debt can be good - these aren't wacky, out-there ideas in the panoply of economic thought. But they absolutely are when you turn on the TV and listen to the Koch brothers go on and on about taxes. So many people just learn the bit of economics that supports their world view and then repeat that ad nauseam. Then the discipline as a whole gets the blame, because no-one stops to think that the messenger is in fact a self-interested (surprise!!!) idiot.