How to Create a Stimulus Straw-Man

Conservative economist Greg Mankiw giggles at Democrats’ silly belief that the government can improve the economy:

The Washington Post reports:

“Facing an increasingly ominous economic outlook, President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats are rapidly ratcheting up plans for a massive fiscal stimulus program that could total as much as $700 billion over the next two years….Obama has set a goal of creating or preserving 2.5 million jobs by 2011.“

Dividing one number by the other, that works out to $280,000 per job.  What is going on here?

Oh, those silly liberals and their horribly wasteful government spending.  Mankiw is suggesting a consumer approach to job creation, thinking that, somehow, the government will literally be spending x amount of dollars on “creating” a job.

The stimulus plan in question, of course, is about promoting economic health — not the mere hiring of 2.5 million people by the government.

Is Mankiw deliberately ignoring the other possible roles that government may take in affecting the economy because conservative economists don’t believe the government may play that role? Is he pretending to be stupid in order to create a stimulus straw-man?

After the last eight years, does anything Mankiw thinks the government should do matter?

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