Half Past Dead

Special Agent Neely: "I want to congratulate you. You just made number four on the most wanted list."
Nico Toscani: "Number four? I wanna be number one."
Special Agent Neely: "The day is young."
--Above the Law

So G-8 leaders have initiated discussion on removing the $trillions of economic stimulus injected over the past year or so. A coupla thoughts come to mind. This is likely just the 'open mouth committtee' at work trying to talk down inflation expectations. People get a little freaky about the value of currencies when governments print money as fast as they can click a mouse.

When it does come time to act, history suggests that bureaucrats will either a) be way late in turning off the spigot, or b) won't act at all.

Think of the current state of financial markets/economies as a brain dead patient and the stimulus as life support. Stimulus is the only thing keeping the patient going. Turn it off, and the patient succumbs.

As in nature, life support only prolongs the inevitable--the patient will ultimately succumb. But not before a ton of resources are allocated toward prolonging the inevitable.

Bureaucrats don't possess the political will to sever the economic life support.