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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
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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.