[T]he next time you hear serious-sounding people explaining the need for fiscal austerity, try to parse their argument. Almost surely, you'll discover that what sounds like hardheaded realism actually rests on a foundation of fantasy, on the belief that invisible vigilantes will punish us if we're bad and the confidence fairy will reward us if we're good. And real-world policy - policy that will blight the lives of millions of working families - is being built on that foundation.

The United States in particular and the West in general should be feeling a little embarrassed about all that lecturing we did to the Third World.

Outrageous fiscal mendacity is neither historically normal nor bipartisan. It’s a modern Republican thing.

I think Stockman is an interesting sort of amalgam.

Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We've gone from bad economic doctrine. We've even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we're talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering upon the already miserable.

Democracy or breakdown in Syria would change the whole Middle East overnight.

I've always believed in expansionary monetary policy and if necessary fiscal policy when the economy is depressed.