Deficit Hysteria Arthur Benavie praeger, 1998, 149 pp.

Arthur Benavie's purpose inDeficit Hysteria [1998] is to argue how the U.S. aversion to deficits in the federal government's budget has been misguided. Chapter 2 ranges far and wide but basically consists of the argument that, left to itself, the private macroeconomy may fail to generate sufficient aggregate demand to provide full employment, and at such times, increased federal government spending can effectively boost demand and employment. Deficit hysteria should not prevent the use of this policy option. The purpose of Chapter 3 is to counter the arguments of deficit hawks that cutting the deficit will raise productivity. Much shorter subsequent chapters deal with issues of income distribution, Social Security, and the negative implications of the 1991 Maastricht Treaty provisions for Western European economies.