We are all Keynesians now

By Richard K. Barry

Conservative economist Milton Friedman said it first, though Richard Nixon, who actually said in 1971 "I am now a Keynesian in economics," is often credited with the comment.

No matter. It seem like an awful lot of Americans think the government should be more heavily involved in job creation programs as the economy struggles to get back on its feet, according to a new Gallup poll.

Americans widely support each of three job creation proposals, including offering tax breaks to businesses that create jobs in the U.S. and a program that would put people to work on urgent infrastructure repair projects. Support for these programs is only slightly lower in a variant of the question that asks respondents if they are in favor of spending government money to pay for the programs.

The key finding is that 72% support federal spending "to put people to work on urgent infrastructure repairs." And 72% support a "federal jobs creation law that would spend government money for a program designed to create more than 1 million new jobs."