December 15, 2008 11:07AM 

# Are We All Keynesians Now? 

By [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) 

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Reuters [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE4BC1PV20081214) that Obama may propose as much as $1 trillion (yes, trillion) of new spending, which would be in addition to the huge expansion of government under Bush, is it true (as Richard Nixon once remarked) that “we are all Keynesians now?

Not quite. Here’s a new video that explains why Keynesian “stimulus” proposals are theoretically misguided. The video also provides real-world evidence showing that bigger government does not work.

So if Keynesian spending is theoretically flawed and doesn’t work in the real world, why are politicians on a spending binge? As I state in the conclusion, they love spending other people’s money.

As always, feedback is welcome.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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