Keynesianism is still not working.The central idea of the dominant economic philosophy in Washington, DC, is that when the private economy fails to produce enough demand, the government can and should step in to take up the economic slack. It should have been long since discredited. But like other bad ideas, people keep bringing it back.

This past Sunday in the New York Times, Paul Krugman opined about a better time in America when the Twinkie was still revered, when families huddled around their black and white television to watch "The Howdy Doody Show" and the wealthiest among us paid their "fair share" by means of a 91% marginal tax rate. Aw, yes the good ol' days....

President Obama, speaking at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, attempted to highlight the successes of his bailout bonanza of the American auto-industry.  “This plant directly supports hundreds of jobs right here in Toledo.  After all, without you, who’d eat at Chet’s or Inky’s or Rudy’s?” A few days later Chet’s closed up shop and went of business.  Ouch.  Presumably, the president would surmise that the diner’s demise was a “bump in the road” on the way to recovery.