There's one obvious lesson of this depressing political season: The American public doesn't understand what economic policy is about, and why our government is not like your family balancing its checkbook sitting around the dinner table.
President Obama holds some responsibility for this public ignorance. He needs to educate the public much more effectively than he has done. One speech he needs to give moving forward: Something very simple and clear that explains the stabilizing function of government expenditures during recession.
The president's bud Paul Krugman is the ideal person to write such a speech. The below version would be my first draft.... More here.
