The Keynesian argument that the government sometimes need to prime the pump has been widely discredited. However, liberals and progressives cling to their faith that the government must spend to stimulate the economy.
I say “faith” because it is a concept that is accepted without proof. In fact, accepted in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.
The truth has been well-proven by many free market economists. F. A. Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, and Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises to name a few.
However, we now have stunning proof of what priming the pump actually does: it increases the size of the government.
The private sector benefits of Obama’s stimulus have been nil. The growth of government has been phenomenal. Look at the chart below created by Bureau of Labor Statistics, and republished on the National Review Online:
‘Nuff said.