Paul Krugman on doing nothing about the economy and why that is bad

[jeffreyab]

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

This Is Not a Recovery
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: August 26, 2010

What will Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, say in his big speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo.? Will he hint at new steps to boost the economy? Stay tuned.

But we can safely predict what he and other officials will say about where we are right now: that the economy is continuing to recover, albeit more slowly than they would like. Unfortunately, that’s not true: this isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact.

The small sliver of truth in claims of continuing recovery is the fact that G.D.P. is still rising: we’re not in a classic recession, in which everything goes down. But so what?

For more go here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/opinion/27krugman.html?ref=columnists

Basically the Republicans are blocking any and all legislation but there is still much the government can do to help the average US resident through government institutions.