Forgot the good times

Re “Stimulus dusts off an old theory,” Jan. 11

Your article on the resurrection of Keynesian economics leaves out a significant part of the theory.

John Maynard Keynes thought governments should stimulate the economy in bad times by running a deficit but also by creating a tax surplus during good times. The idea was to moderate the extremes of the business cycle. The surplus also could be used in bad times.

Good times and a surplus inevitably lead to calls for tax cuts, defeating the purpose and actually encouraging the boom-to-bust cycle once again.

Neil Haas

Los Angeles