Burning down the house

If it weren't bad enough that Bushfires are sweeping across large parts of Australia, killing scores of people, leaving many more homeless, and destroying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property, we now have to suffer from the rank asininity of Keynesian "economists" suggesting that the natural disaster will have beneficial economic consequences:

As an aside, the bushfires may help the nation fend off recession: Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Tim Toohey says rebuilding will generate an economic stimulus equal to 0.25-0.4 per cent of GDP over the next 18 months.

"As tragic as the events of the past two days have been, the rebuilding phase will provide a catalyst for economic growth in coming months, even if the personal and environmental cost takes years to recover," he says.

One wonders whether the suspected arsonists were in fact Keynesians executing another ridiculous "stimulus plan".

Police smash window repairer's business ploy

The LA Times is reporting that Police smash window repairer's business ploy:

Times were so tough for window repairman Timothy Carl Klenke, police say, that he decided to take proactive measures: He armed himself with a slingshot and began cruising around the city, shattering at least five windows and car windshields as he went.

"The statements he gave to officers led them to believe he was out to drum up business and was prepared to go out and do some more damage," Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker said Tuesday.

Witnesses reported seeing Klenke, 50, driving around in his Honda in the areas where the vandalism occurred. When police arrived at his Redlands home, they said, they found a slingshot in his car along with projectiles that matched those used to smash the windows and windshields.

Baker said Klenke, who was arrested Monday, had planned to contact the victims later and offer to repair the windows for a fee.

"I'm sure it has something to do with the economy," Baker said. "Everybody is hurting now."

Almost every economic policy proposed by Congress is some variant of the Broken Window Fallacy. But when the same policy ideas are carried out by a private citizen it's called "vandalism". If Klenke had been able to formalize his ideas into an economic theory, he probably would have been awarded a Nobel Prize; just like this guy.

Photo by Rich Anderson. Used under a Creative Commons license.