TOW #14 - Printing Money

To avoid economic stagnation faced by nations like Japan, John Cassidy, who is an esteemed economist journalist, suggests that the US should print money and hand it out to it's citizens. He argues this radical viewpoint with logical reasoning and analogies to convince the reader that his unorthodox idea is the best solution. "helicopter drops, or their electronic equivalent, could provide the Japanese government with a way to lift its economy out of a decade-long slump." (Cassidy 2). Money would be injected into the economy, and activity would explode, leading to a stronger and healthier economy. This idea, at least to many people, would have the opposite effect, but Cassidy uses facts and logic like this to prove them wrong. The economic issue can be solved by printing money, and this story shows the side of one that far too many people neglect. This devil's advocate is not totally out of his mind, and offers the insightful perspective of the opposing design. The author also uses analogies to strike fear into the hearts of the reader. When reading about Japan, the reader will most certainly not want the United States to experience the economic stagnation that they are subject too, so the reader may consider actively trying new and innovative economic methods. The author was overall quite successful. I went in strongly against this idea, not for any good reason that he did not disprove in the text. The convincing nature of the article makes you want to sink in and accept the unique idea instead of utterly rejecting it out of closed minded fear. By opening the perspective of the reader, he has completed his cause. The author never wanted to hand out thousand of dollars, but wanted to find a better medium in between what our current system is. This method can truly revitalize the economy.