Economic Policy

June 26, 2024 | The Sling

Dylan Gyauch-Lewis

Op-Ed CRFBEconomic MediaEconomic PolicyKen Rogoff

Ken Rogoff Remains Pervasive Even Though His Pro-Austerity Paper Was Debunked Over Ten Years Ago

Rogoff’s legacy is one of creating cover for conservative governments to prematurely abandon fiscal stimulus, leaving millions of people out of work. What rocketed “Growth in a Time of Debt” to its high status among economists was how clear and dramatic it found the risk of high debt to be. That was proven to be bunk. But it was deeply rooted in the ethos of the austerity movement, so much so that the hawks at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget felt the need to defend their own position in the wake of the R&R controversy. Why is Rogoff still in reporters’ rolodexes?