The Niggles

"The critics are instead mainly engaged in a series of minor complaints, aka niggles; FDR didn’t do so well, the statistical evidence ain’t so great, you can’t trust government, etc., etc.. "

So, Mr. Krugman is contending that when critics say flooding the economy with cash creates a situation that manifests artificial and unsustainable demand, thus leading to an extended economic downturn, as the economy attempts to find the sustainable level of output following a period of overheating... that is considered a minor complaint?

I'd call having the "check engine" light continually coming on in your car "the niggles," (a situation I became intimately acquainted with last week) but I'm not so sure an extended period of heavy unemployment would qualify as a "minor complaint."

The bottom line for Mr. Krugman -- government can't spend the country's economy out of a recession. You can create some nice fireworks in the short run, but the economy is still going to have to return to a sustainable (and likely lower) level of growth when all is said and done.