Summers on the Recovery

I confess that I think Larry Summers is just very, very smart. His op-ed in this morning's Washington Post reminds us that the WORST thing to do, both for encouraging the recovery and, therefore, dealing with our nation's long-term fiscal issues, would be to prematurely take steps that would contract the economy. You have seen this in the unemployment figures for the past several months - the impressive job gains in the private sector are somewhat offset by the downsizing of government jobs. Certainly, the draconian cuts proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan would have a similar effect. The most important thing is to get the economy going by keeping demand increasing. Then, and only then, are solutions to the long-term debt issues even possible.