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".