In this morning's New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argues lawmakers -- in Europe, and in the U.S. -- should ignore "deficit hawks." He calls for more spending and says plans to cut spending remind him of "1937, when F.D.R.'s premature attempt to balance the budget helped plunge a recovering economy back into severe recession."

Over at The Wall Street Journal former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in a timely and direct answer to Krugman's analysis says, "I believe the fears of budget contraction inducing a renewed decline of economic activity are misplaced." Greenspan says the U.S. is much closer to Greece than anyone wants to acknowledge.

Greenspan acknowledges common effects of high budget deficits -- inflation and long-term interest rates -- are low despite buckets of red ink, but warns the U.S. not to grow complacent just because these indicators are low. Greenspan says Americans should be concerned because the "budget constraints of the past are missing."

Greenspan is -- at the very least -- right on that account. Federal spending per household has ballooned from around $20,000 in the 1990s to around $30,000 today.  That's a 50 percent increase in just a decade.

If the type of spending Krugman advocates worked shouldn't the U.S. economy be sailing along?

Who do you think is right? Krugman or Greenspan?

Randy Evans writes a weekly column and here it is:

BP Oil Spill:  Jindal Leads While Others Slip
J. Randolph Evans
Column No. 1021 (6/18/10)

Everyone agrees that the BP Oil Spill is a manmade disaster of
historical proportions.  Disasters have a way of separating leaders from
losers.  Obviously, the biggest losers from this catastrophe will be
people living along the Gulf Coast and the American taxpayers.
Notwithstanding hollow promises that the American taxpayers will never
have to pay a nickel, everyone in the real world knows that is not true.
The ripple effect of the economic consequences of the spill reach
throughout the country, and the people that will ultimately be called
upon to carry that burden will be American taxpayers.

But, there are other losers in this process.  There are the politicians
charged with responding to the challenges of the moment.  And, while
there are losers, there are also winners - winners in the sense that
they met and exceeded the expectations of those around them and of those
whom they are charged to protect.  Here is a brief summary of the
"winners" and "losers" arising out of the BP oil spill.  Of course, the
list is so long that this brief overview is but a partial list.

Winner - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.  After his poor performance in
the State of the Union response last year, few gave the young governor
much of a future on the national stage.  Well, few of those doubts
remain.  Governor Jindal stood up immediately on behalf of Louisiana
with an affirmative action plan to protect his state as much as
physically possible.  While the federal government dithers, he has moved
forward decisively.  He has also made one important point.  When there
is an airline crash, the government does not stop all flying.  Here, it
makes no sense to stop all drilling.  The drilling moratorium only
serves to increase the risks at other wells and increase the economic
impact on a struggling economy.

Loser - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.   So far, the
Homeland Security Secretary has done nothing to make Americans feel
secure.  After indicating that the system worked regarding the Christmas
Day bomber, she announced that the response to the BP Oil Spill was "all
hands on deck."  Well, the truth was that many hands were turned away by
the federal government in the wake of the disaster.  Indeed, other
countries, companies, and individuals offered help in real terms with
real ships and real hands on deck.  Yet, they were turned away as the
oil steadily leaked in huge volumes into the Gulf of Mexico on its way
to Florida beaches and Louisiana marshlands.  No one can quite explain
how the Homeland Security Secretary keeps her job.

Loser - Interior Secretary Ken Salazaar .  Generally regarded as a weak
link in the Administration's chain, Interior Secretary Ken Salazaar
lived up (or down) to his billing.  Immediately after the spill, he
gathered experts to assess and recommend solutions.  The purpose was to
show how quickly the government could respond and how well.  As it turns
out, his report was neither timely nor accurate.  It took weeks to
produce as millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf.  And, as it
turns out, the report itself was not an accurate reflection of the
experts' recommendations.  The Interior Secretary took the liberty of
adding a couple paragraphs after circulating the draft report to the
experts.  Well, he got busted.  The experts called him on it and noted
that the report's recommendations were not their recommendations.  He
apologized.  Unfortunately, the apology does little to make up for the
lost time and the impaired credibility of his office.

Losers - BP Chairman Carl Henric-Svanberg and BP President Tony Hayward.
Both of these executives created sizable verbal spills of their own.
The BP Chairman talked about helping the "small people" and Hayward just
made one mistake after another.  If they really want to help their
company, they should spend some time with the "small people" and
discover just how their oil affects people who do not fly around on
private jets and stay in luxurious accommodations.  Living it, just a
little, does a lot for changing one's frame of reference.  They should
try a couple days in Louisiana cleaning up the oil.  It might change the
way they think and the way they talk about this catastrophe and the
people it affects.

Loser - President Barack Obama.  Even James Carville agrees that the
President's handling of the largest environmental disaster in history
has been pitiful.  He thinks that occasionally dropping the a-- word or
the d--- word somehow solves the problem or demonstrates his passion for
solving the problem.  Well, it does not.  Neither quips nor trips do
much.  Action does.  Unfortunately, spills do not wait on anyone, even a
President.  The spill was bad enough.  The delay has made its damage
irreparable.