Brad DeLong sends us to Joe Weisenthal for background, makes the (what should be) obvious observation and then asks the (what should be) obvious questions:
And now on to our big long-run problem:
Unfunded tax cuts are, in the long run, bad juju. We cannot make policy on the expectation that the U.S. will always be able to borrow at negative real interest rates. And we should make policy aiming for a low debt-to-GDP ratio, because emergencies will arise in which we will want to boost federal spending quickly and substantially to attain important national purposes.
Obama needs a policy to fund these tax cuts–not in the short-term or (probably) in the medium-term but in the long run. What is that policy going to be? Carbon tax? Include health and other benefits in the tax base? Cut defense spending? Lower the top bracket amount down to $100K?
Inquiring minds would like to know…