Government spending does stimulate economy

In a recent letter ["School spending isn't a gain for economy," March 28], the writer asserts that it is a "myth" that government spending creates economic growth. You don't need to be an Ivy League historian to realize how mistaken the writer is.

Herbert Hoover shared the writer's view, and we all know how well that turned out for our nation (Great Depression). President Franklin D. Roosevelt wisely changed course and adopted the demand side (deficit-spending) model advocated by economist John Maynard Keynes.

The government spending called for under Roosevelt's New Deal, combined with the government spending necessary to fight World War II, is what pulled our country out of the Great Depression. Critics of the Obama stimulus package fail to understand that without it, our country would have likely slipped into an even greater recession. How quickly people forget that the current poor economy was largely the result of the stewardship of Republican "supply-siders."

The current austerity budget approach that is sweeping the nation, deep spending cuts and the refusal to raise taxes on the wealthiest, is a recipe for more economic stagnation and inequity.

The writer also asserts that "governments do not create anything and do not generate profits." I could not disagree more vehemently. Public schools help to create an educated citizenry, which is not only the cornerstone of any productive workforce and key to social mobility, but an absolutely essential ingredient to Jeffersonian democracy.

Carolyn Faggioni

Bellmore