The recession is over, says Bill English, so we can stop stimulus spending. Right?
Wrong. As Paul Krugman pointed out when the US faced similar economic news back in September,
the purpose of stimulus is, first and foremost, to mitigate unemployment. The fact that the economy may be technically in recovery is irrelevant.Unemployment is still rising. This means that stimulus spending is still necessary. But English would rather pinch pennies now to make the government books look better, even if it means locking in more unemployment, for longer. Another example of how National does not give a damn about the recession's victims - only the rich.
