"The claim made by Team Obama that every dollar in stimulus translates into a dollar-and-a-half in growth is economic fiction. The costs of stimulus reduce future growth. No country has ever spent itself to prosperity. The price of stimulus has to be paid sometime"
About this Quote
The subtext is generational and disciplinary. “The costs of stimulus reduce future growth” smuggles in an assumption that government borrowing is inherently growth-sapping, not merely a tradeoff contingent on interest rates, idle capacity, or what the money buys. “No country has ever spent itself to prosperity” isn’t meant as a falsifiable historical claim; it’s a slogan designed to make Keynesian emergency measures sound like a permanent lifestyle choice. The quote turns a crisis response into a character flaw.
Context matters: post-2008, the public mood was primed for anger at bailouts, deficits, and elites who seemed to socialize losses. Rove harnesses that resentment by shifting the debate from short-run stabilization (keep demand from collapsing) to long-run virtue (don’t live beyond your means). The final sentence is the kicker: “has to be paid sometime” conjures an inevitable bill collector, making austerity feel like responsibility rather than an option with its own costs. It’s persuasive because it translates macroeconomics into a parable about accountability, even if the parable is incomplete.
Quote Details
| Topic | Money |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rove, Karl. (2026, January 16). The claim made by Team Obama that every dollar in stimulus translates into a dollar-and-a-half in growth is economic fiction. The costs of stimulus reduce future growth. No country has ever spent itself to prosperity. The price of stimulus has to be paid sometime. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-claim-made-by-team-obama-that-every-dollar-in-129795/
Chicago Style
Rove, Karl. "The claim made by Team Obama that every dollar in stimulus translates into a dollar-and-a-half in growth is economic fiction. The costs of stimulus reduce future growth. No country has ever spent itself to prosperity. The price of stimulus has to be paid sometime." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-claim-made-by-team-obama-that-every-dollar-in-129795/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The claim made by Team Obama that every dollar in stimulus translates into a dollar-and-a-half in growth is economic fiction. The costs of stimulus reduce future growth. No country has ever spent itself to prosperity. The price of stimulus has to be paid sometime." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-claim-made-by-team-obama-that-every-dollar-in-129795/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
