[Houshalter]

This is what Austrian economists have been arguing forever. They base their models on simple assumptions. Trying to figure out how an economy works just by observing it's macro behavior is insane. There are so many factors, economic models change over time as market actors use them to make decisions, and the sample size is incredibly small (not many countries to look at) and biased (differences between countries are huge, differences in time within a country are huge too.) Economists of all types are terribly inaccurate at making predictions, even in the short term.

>Also - who on earth thought austerity was ever a good idea?

Who on Earth thought spending was ever a good idea?

>The US should load up on as much debt as possible

This is ludicrous. How on Earth would you pay it back? The only way you could justify such spending is if it created more wealth than the amount of debt and interest. Which depends entirely on where the money is spent. Just creating new roads and bridges may produce some value to the economy, but it's no where near enough to justify it (and in the end most of it would have to be taxed back of course, to pay for the debt and interest.)

[eli_gottlieb]

Because obviously America needs zero improvements to its infrastructure. No high-speed rail, no electrical grid improvements, no roads or bridges, no fixing or improving the water system, no blue-sky scientific research, no teachers to hire to decrease class sizes.... NOTHING, YOU HEAR ME, NOTHING YOU STUPID LITTLE LIBERAL!

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I was supposed to sound like an Austrian "economist".

[Houshalter]

This is a pointless straw man argument. No one is claiming we should never invest in infrastructure. Some improvements in infrastructure have value certainly. It depends on the specific project. Spending for the sake of spending is ridiculous though.

[eli_gottlieb]

Actually, the Austrians basically do advocate that the public sector should not exist, and should certainly not be constructing infrastructure, because if it was at all worthwhile, someone would make a private profit off it and do it that way!

No god but Capital, say the Austrians, and the Market is His Prophet.

[Houshalter]

You are confusing Austrian economics with anarcho-capitalism. Many anarcho-capitalists subscribe to Austrian economics, but certainly not all Austrians are anarcho-capitalists.