New York Times Prints Letter on Stimulus-Stagflation

By Joseph Kellard

The New York Times today revised and printed a letter I submitted to the newspaper in reply to an op-ed by Paul D. Ryan, which I posted about here on Feb. 17 ("Not a 'Stimulus' But a Return to Stagflation"). Recall that Ryan's editorial, entitled "Thirty Yeas Later, a Return to Stagflation," concluded that the "stimulus" plan will only ultimately lead to higher inflation and higher unemployment.


Below is my letter as printed.


To the Editor:

Paul D. Ryan properly points to the lesson of the government-induced stagflation of the 1970s as the result of the same spending and borrowing policies of the "stimulus" plan. He also recognizes that the Federal Reserve's policies of manipulating interest rates and expanding the money supply were an essential cause of today's financial crisis.

But instead of calling for reforms and cost controls for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Mr. Ryan should propose drastic cuts in spending on these entitlements.

Government interference in the economy fundamentally caused today's crisis, and only more freedom -- more separation between state and economics -- will get us out of it.

Joseph Kellard
East Meadow, N.Y., Feb. 14, 2009