Adding Up U.S. Fiscal Follies Through the Years

Recently, a passage from an economics textbook, Modern Principles of Economics, came to my attention. It was written by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, professors at George Mason University and fellows at the Mercatus Center.In it, they point out that economists believe government should spend more during a recession and less during good times. This is basically the Keynesian school of thought. Having always been curious about this, I checked out the history of how this doctrine has influenced policy.