The Goal In The End Is Not

[t]he Next Time You Hear Serious-sounding People Explaining The Need For Fiscal Austerity, Try To Parse Their Argument. Almost Surely, You'll Discover That What Sounds Like Hardheaded Realism Actually Rests On A Foundation Of Fantasy, On The Belief That Invisible Vigilantes Will Punish Us If We're Bad And The Confidence Fairy Will Reward Us If We're Good. And Real-world Policy - Policy That Will Blight The Lives Of Millions Of Working Families - Is Being Built On That Foundation.

I'm Especially Baffled By The Idea Of Taking Insurance Against A U.s. Default. If America Defaults, We're Talking About A Chaotic World - Mad Max, More Or Less - In Which Case, Who Imagines That Insurance Claims Will Be Honored?

Default Is Not In Our Stars, But In Ourselves.

I'm Not Sure That The Current Value Of The Nasdaq Is Justified, But I'm Not Sure That It Isn't.

What The Depression Teaches Us Is That When The Economy Is So Depressed That Even A Zero Interest Rate Isn't Low Enough, You Have To Put Conventional Notions Of Prudence And Sound Policy Aside.