Ian Shepherdson on the paradox of thrift and need for the public sector to expand

The public sector needs to act. It needs to prevent an endless spiral of attempts to increase saving, leading to reduced spending, leading to reduced incomes, leading to further attempts to raise savings, and so on.

We remain firmly of the view that the package now in Congress is the bare minimum required to slow the shrinkage of the economy over the next year.

~ Ian Shepherdson, chief North American economist for High Frequency Economics, "Economy Shed 598,000 Jobs in January," The New York Times, February 6, 2009