Faced with a need for massive rebuilding in the Gulf Coast, President Bush has refused to estimate how much the effort might cost. He has also said he won't raise taxes to pay for the operation, recommending Congress find other programs in the federal budget to cut. To discuss the president's economic policy, we speak with Paul Krugman and Stuart Butler.
Krugman is a columnist for The New York Times; Butler is a vice president of the Heritage Foundation, focusing on domestic and economic policy. The pair debate Bush's economic policy as the country deals with the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Krugman has written extensively -- and often quite critically -- about the economic policy of the Bush administration. In a recent memo on rebuilding the Gulf Coast, Butler and other Heritage Foundation members stated that private investment; direct assistance to individuals; and sound economics should be the basis of recovery.
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