"Policy Failure on a Massive Scale"

I'm about to head off on a blissful long weekend in the woods, and thank God. Civilization has been a real drag for the last little while. I've noticed that even the tone of even more usually reserved commentators has changed to hand-waving and yelling from the rooftops. Take Ryan Avent's post from yesterday on The Economist's Free Exchange blog, which pretty much sums up everything I feel about the situation right now:

"MAYBE everything will turn out all right. One shouldn't forget that possibility. As each day passes, however, frustration grows. Leaders in America and Europe are dallying with failure on an epic scale. They are constrained by dysfunctional institutions, it's true. In Europe, the architecture of the currency union is far too underdeveloped to weather a crisis of the current magnitude. In America, the creaking machinery of the legislature is ill suited to settlement of big questions on a short time frame amid divided government. But it's no longer sufficient to blame inadequate policy responses on institutions alone. America and Europe are flailing because their leaders are failing. They seem to be too small for the tasks at hand, too petty, and too myopic.

...

Again, it's not like the correct policy path is incredibly complicated. Here, I'll sum it up in three quick steps:

1. Don't cause a major crisis.
2. Do spend more and tax less for the next year or so.
3. Do spend less and tax more after that.

See? That's really easy!"

He's not kidding - it is really easy. Look, the New York Times has even laid out it for you in this awesome little interactive graph. Go ahead, time yourself: see how long it takes YOU to solve the deficit.

Have a lovely weekend.