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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Saturday, August 22, 2015 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com MIKE FORRESTER Pendleton Chairman of the Board STEVE FORRESTER Astoria President TOM BROWN Bigfork, Mont. Director KATHRYN B. BROWN Pendleton Secretary/Treasurer JEFF ROGERS Indianapolis, Ind. Director OUR VIEW OTHER VIEWS Don’t be scared of debt R 0HJD¿UHV No longer if, but when Eastern Oregon is ablaze. Eastern certainly should. But we can only Washington is ablaze. The Paci¿c be assured a real impact on the Northwest is ablaze. The American decisions that affect our lives, our West is ablaze. family and our neighbors. These are serious ¿res that have At the very least, we must look destroyed homes, taken human life, at any property we own in a rural wrecked ecosystems ¿re district ² or in no and destroyed ¿re district ² and stop If we can’t thinking what would livelihoods. This brutally hot and dry happen if a wild¿re learn the year will have impacts rushes through. We lessons now, must now act and well into the future, but may not be not as ] rare for the ¿re as flames lap prepare as we might ¿rst think. that is likely to come. “Mega¿res” ² at the feet of We must heed the blazes that destroy we’ve heard our cities, we warnings 100,000 or more for years about creating acres ² are becoming space, about never will. defensible almost common. This having materials and year, there were dozens water available to across the West, including those in defend life and property and about John Day, near Twisp, Wash. and a having escape routes ready in case growing inferno in prime northeast of emergency. Oregon elk country near Troy that If we can’t take that lesson to has already destroyed multiple heart, as Àames lap at our feet of homes. Millions of acres have been cities across Eastern Oregon, we burning for months in Alaska. never will. That the latest Grant As we noted earlier this week, an &ounty ¿re is believed to have been Aug. 9 National Geographic story human caused is astounding. Who reports these mega¿res are feasting wouldn’t take every precaution as on a warming, changing climate. they look off into the ¿res burning The end result of these colossal in every direction, infernos that have blazes are permanently transformed leveled the homes of their friends ecosystems. One scientist quoted and neighbors? in the story said that if he wants to We cannot look to the state for continue specializing in the same much help. A story in Friday’s East type of forest, he should move Oregonian noted how few people hundreds of miles north. qualify for the state’s wild¿re Maybe we should too, if want damage program, and how small to continue living, farming, the ¿nancial bene¿t is. Without logging and recreating in the same a disaster designation, there is environment. little hope for federal help too. Of Still, climate change is not the course there are ¿re¿ghters, doing only huge issue at play when we everything possible to limit the discuss ¿res. Weather patterns are destruction and save lives. having an enormous effect this year, But rural residents are reminded as is the culmination of decades again of our isolation and, yes, the of forest management practices, dangers of living where we do. We changes in wildlife and farming, must be prepared to do the work habitat destruction and recreation. ourselves: both protect our property Yes we can all give our two cents and rebuild it in the ever-increasing on those massive issues, and most chances that our land is burned. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. and Paul said something and others, is that the debt of stable, funny the other day. No, reliable governments provides “safe really ² although of course assets” that help investors manage it wasn’t intentional. On his Twitter risks, make transactions easier and account he decried the irresponsibility avoid a destructive scramble for cash. of American ¿scal policy, declaring, Now, in principle the private sector “The last time the United States was can also create safe assets, such as debt free was 1835.” deposits in banks that are universally Wags quickly noted that the U.S. perceived as sound. In the years before Paul economy has, on the whole, done Krugman the 2008 ¿nancial crisis, Wall Street pretty well these past 180 years, claimed to have invented whole new Comment suggesting that having the government classes of safe assets by slicing and owe the private sector money might dicing cash Àows from subprime not be all that bad a thing. The British mortgages and other sources. government, by the way, has been in debt for But all of that supposedly brilliant ¿nancial more than three centuries, an era spanning the engineering turned out to be a con job: When Industrial Revolution, victory over Napoleon, the housing bubble burst, all that AAA-rated and more. paper turned into sludge. So investors scurried But is the point simply back into the haven provided by the debt of the United that public debt isn’t as bad States and a few other major as legend has it? Or can economies. In the process government debt actually be they drove interest rates on a good thing? that debt way down. Believe it or not, many And those low interest economists argue that rates, Kocherlakota declares, the economy needs a are a problem. When interest suf¿cient amount of public rates on government debt debt out there to function are very low even when the well. And how much is economy is strong, there’s suf¿cient? Maybe more not much room to cut them than we currently have. when the economy is weak, That is, there’s a reasonable making it much harder to argument to be made that ¿ght recessions. There may part of what ails the world also be consequences for economy right now is that ¿nancial stability: Very low governments aren’t deep returns on safe assets may enough in debt. push investors into too much I know that may sound risk-taking ² or for that crazy. After all, we’ve spent matter encourage another much of the past ¿ve or round of destructive Wall six years in a state of ¿scal Street hocus-pocus. panic, with all the Very What can be done? Serious People declaring Simply raising interest rates, that we must slash de¿cits as some ¿nancial types keep and reduce debt now now demanding (with an eye on now or we’ll turn into their own bottom lines), would undermine Greece, Greece I tell you. our still-fragile recovery. What we need are But the power of the de¿cit scolds was policies that would permit higher rates in always a triumph of ideology over evidence, good times without causing a slump. And one and a growing number of genuinely such policy, Kocherlakota argues, would be serious people ² most recently Narayana targeting a higher level of debt. Kocherlakota, the departing president of the In other words, the great debt panic that Minneapolis Fed ² are making the case that warped the U.S. political scene from 2010 to we need more, not less, government debt. 2012, and still dominates economic discussion Why? One answer is that issuing debt is a way to in Britain and the eurozone, was even more pay for useful things, and we should do more wrongheaded than those of us in the anti- of that when the price is right. The United austerity camp realized. States suffers from obvious de¿ciencies Not only were governments that listened in roads, rails, water systems and more; to the ¿scal scolds kicking the economy when meanwhile, the federal government can it was down, prolonging the slump; not only borrow at historically low interest rates. were they slashing public investment at the So this is a very good time to be borrowing very moment bond investors were practically and investing in the future, and a very bad pleading with them to spend more; they may time for what has actually happened: an have been setting us up for future crises. unprecedented decline in public construction And the ironic thing is that these foolish spending adjusted for population growth and policies, and all the human suffering they inÀation. created, were sold with appeals to prudence Beyond that, those very low interest rates and ¿scal responsibility. are telling us something about what markets Ŷ want. I’ve already mentioned that having at Paul Krugman joined The New York Times least some government debt outstanding helps in 1999 as a columnist on the Op-Ed Page the economy function better. How so? The and continues as professor of Economics and answer, according to MIT’s Ricardo Caballero International Affairs at Princeton University. The power of the deficit scolds was always a triumph of ideology over evidence. A growing number of genuinely serious people are making the case that we need more, not less, government debt. YOUR VIEWS Hermiston leaders request feedback on city’s brand How many times have you told someone from Portland that you’re from Hermiston, just to have them ask, “Where’s that?” They generally have no idea that we’re one of the fastest growing communities in the state, are home to diverse agriculture, manufacturing and many other industries, offer a thriving and comprehensive education system from preschool through Master’s degrees, are within driving distance to virtually every type of outdoor recreation in the Northwest, and still enjoy the high quality life of a rural community near many urban amenities. We want everyone to know about our amazing community. One way to help do this is to establish a community brand that builds on existing name recognition, but also conveys an image of Hermiston that highlights what makes our community a great place to live, work, and play. To begin this effort, the “Hermiston: You can GROW here” brand was developed by a diverse group of community members including municipal, small and large business representatives to help capitalize on a positive community brand. But we need your input and opinions about the proposed brand to determine any changes we should make before we fully implement any community brand. Your feedback will help to further re¿ne and craft Hermiston’s image and community brand. Please take a few minutes to complete a ¿ve question survey about the currently proposed brand. Visit www.hermistonbrand. com to provide your input. You can also ¿ll out a paper copy of the survey at Hermiston’s Saturday Market at McKenzie Park Aug. 29 from 8 – 11 a.m. or at Wal-Mart on Aug. 29 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Thank you for your input and ideas. LETTERS POLICY Byron Smith, city manager David Drotzmann, mayor Debbie Pedro, chamber of commerce The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
