U.S. Is Now in a Depression, Professor Says

One U.S. professor thinks that we're now in a Depression. What do YOU think?

Richard Posner, an influential law professor at the University of Chicago, believes the United States has entered a depression. The conservative lecturer believes Keynesian-style stimulus would be a better solution to the economics crisis than tax cuts.

Posner acknowledged that "depression" is an ambiguous term, but in the Becker-Posner Blog, a daily commentary he writes with Nobel Laureate Gary Becker, he argued that the current environment fits his own definition: "There is no widely agreed definition of the word, but I would define it as a steep reduction in output that causes or threatens to cause deflation and creates widespread public anxiety and a sense of crisis."

Posner said conservative economists, such as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, generally do not like deficit-spending programs that sponsor public works and transfer payments. However, monetary policy has proven inadequate to staving off the recession, he said, which has converted "almost the entire economics profession - virtually overnight - from being Milton Friedman monetarists... to being John Maynard Keynes deficit spenders."

So what do you think? Is the U.S. in a Depression?

Related Items:

Making Money (Discworld Novels)

Making the Most of Your Money Now: The Classic Bestseller Completely Revised for the Risky New Economy

Did you enjoy this article? Be sure to subscribe to our news feed. You can also follow us on Twitter.

Related Posts:

• Free Car Media: Get Paid to Drive Your Car
• Joel Comm on The Daily Show
• Kindle Author Gets Book Publishing Deal
• Cute Things Falling Asleep
• Amazon Drops North Carolina Affiliates