Festina lente – hurry slowly – is advice we have inherited from the ancient Romans. Western policymakers should now take it to heart. Confronted with huge fiscal deficits, many have concluded that they should hurry fiscal tightening on as fast as possible, in the hope that it will prove expansionary. What are the chances that they will be right? Small, I believe. Moreover, rather better alternatives are on offer. But their drawback is that they are unorthodox: alas, many “sound” people prefer orthodox recessions to unorthodox recoveries.
Festina lente(从容赶急)是我们从古罗马人那里继承来的忠告。西方政策制定者们现在应该把这句话放在心上。面对巨额财政赤字,许多人得出结论,他们应尽可能快地收紧财政,以期对manbetx20客户端下载 产生扩张效应。那么这些结论正确的可能性有多大呢?我认为很小。此外,还有一些比这更好的选择。但这些选择的弊端在于,它们是非正统手段:唉,许多“理性的”人宁愿选择正统的衰退,也不想要非正统的复苏。