The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and the results have been a disaster.
Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement.
There is no legislative change that can be made to make up for an economy that's not growing and not expanding.
In the immediate postwar years, the whole of Europe was in a recession. So first of all, it helped us step out of a recession; it gave a certain amount of speed to the economy. But that was the first step.
The Keynesian idea is once again accepted that fiscal policy and deficit spending has a major role to play in guiding a market economy. I wish Friedman were still alive so he could witness how his extremism led to the defeat of his own ideas.
Our problem is not adopting reforms, which we will do without question. It is not reaching an objective, which we will meet. But it is finding an end to the recession.
I have no idea who first coined the word 'Abenomics.' It was not my original term for the set of anti-deflation, growth-promotion policies I am now pursuing.
The insistence of European leaders to austerity policies keeps the European economy strapped in stagnation.
The financial crisis and the Great Recession left firms with excess capacity, reducing incentives to invest. If businesses expect slower growth to continue, that will also hold down investment.
The only way government bureaucrats know of keeping prosperity going is to inflate some more - to increase the deficit or to pump more money into the system.
The most important point is, in a time of crisis, there is no way out but for the government to be bold and aggressive.
Our society wants things to grow, and our society wants things to become bigger and bigger. Everything has to be put under the spotlight.
