Scott Sumner's D-Day

      Sumner has made a tactical mistake in spending so much time hammering the Keyneisans. Note when I say that V-Day Sumner is on the Axis Powers, he's Germany. These might have been allies of his in the quest for NGDP targeting. However his insistence at writing snarky post after snarky post has alienated any alliance he might have had.

     Benjamin Cole said this in Sumner's comments thread:

     "I dislike this diversion into extended arguments with Keynesians. Why?We had ‘em. We had ‘em when Krugman admitted that monetary policy can snuff out fiscal stimulus (obviously, but anyway)."

     "From that point we should have co-opted the Keynesians, and built up the idea that fiscal stimulus needs a major boost from monetary policy—-indeed the more aggressive the monetary policy the less you need fiscal stimulus, and perhaps only minor fiscal stimulus."

     "From that platform it is not too far to pure Market Monetarism."

     "Instead, we have segwayed into a backwater of arguments, in which Sumner reminds or educates economists that the New England Patriots cannot win the Super Bowl by showing nerves of steel combined with better relief pitching."

      He after all had won over Krugman, Romer and Delong over to his NGDP targeting regime. But lately he has posted so many snarky Keynesian hating posts. Then JL writes this:

      
     @Benjamin Cole.

    "Full agreement here. I agree with Krugman and Sumner."
    "The goal should be to end unemployment and return the economy to full productive capacity, whatever the means."
   
   "The Fed moves last, so we need the Fed. But if Democrats want to spend a few billions so they can take credit for ending the Lesser Depression with a ‘New New Deal’, then it’s a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things."

     "Politicians will be politicians: they need their token action so that they can claim credit in the eyes of the public and win the next election."
     "Sure, democracy sucks, but it’s better than serving a king."

     "The only people I don’t agree with are the austerity-loving inflation hawks: Fischer, Kocherlakota and Plosser. Treasonous bastards…"

       Cole may have a point that they had Keynesians where they wanted them as Krugman and Delong, et al. where buying into NGDP./ Sumner though has worked very hard to destroy whatever goodwill there could possibly have been.

        Why would this be? Maybe Sumner is not as sanguine as JL that it's all good if the Dems get a little fiscal stimulus, maybe Unlearning Econ is right that the goal of Sumner is basically Neoclassical. He has in the past discussed the world when Mankiw wrote his easy on New Keynesianism as a a Golden Age-as even the New Keynesians basically had little place for fiscal stimulus.

       Maybe what Sumner cares about more than having NGDP targeting is making sure people don't give up the belief that fiscal policy is powerless to stimulate demand.