Swan can't avoid Keynes's curse

Comments on Jessica Irvine “Swan proved Keynes works but can he avoid Keynes's curse?”, 13/04/2011, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/swan-proved-keynes-works-but-can-he-avoid-keyness-curse-20110412-1dcis.html

While there may indeed be Keynes's curse in a logic sense, but it is the real political economy of most government budgets that cause more grieves and cynics.

It is not the inevitable wastage of most government fiscal stimulus measures, but the stupid, sometimes deliberate and politically driven wastages that are the problem for the public.

For example, there have been so many examples of wastes shown in the BER programs. Further, the restrictions for the BER projects for each and every school to be either school hall or library were so problematic, because that is another form of wastage (it is not the best outcomes or the most effective projects for many schools and they could have been better off if they had been allowed to build what they need most) that could and should have been avoided.

The home insulation programs are another example. Why didn’t the government anticipate the potential risks and problems in advance and take measures to minimise them is beyond anyone’s belief?

On that account, Swan will not be able to avoid the crudest Keynes's curse due to those silly designs of the government policy and poor implementations.

Most economist students will be shocked to realise that the real world fiscal policy design in terms of its content is nothing like what they were taught from the textbook – a government that always acts with a good intention to achieve good fiscal policy objectives.

Welcome to the real world, at last.