> I don’t think the US government had any intention of truly getting the US out of the 2008 recession. Define "US government": > I see the following scenario:

> I don’t think the US government had any intention of truly getting the US out of the 2008 recession. Define "US government": > I see the following scenario: a weak stimulus plan, perhaps even weaker than what we’re talking about now, is crafted to win those extra GOP votes. The plan limits the rise in unemployment, but things are still pretty bad, with the rate peaking at something like 9 percent and coming down only slowly. And then Mitch McConnell says “See, government spending doesn’t work.” * https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/stimulus-arithmetic-wonkish-but-important/ https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/stimulus-arithm... * https://archive.is/3zNYD https://archive.is/3zNYD Some people in government were trying to improve the economy, while others were tamping down or even (arguably) sabotaging the recovery for political purposes. Ever notice how the debt and deficits were bad under Obama, then not a problem under Trump… and now suddenly they are again and there's sudden talk about not raising the debt ceiling under a Democratic president… again.