Today, Larry Summers warned Congress that failing to approve the tax plan hammered out with Republican leaders could lead to a double-dip recession in 2011.
This is a scare tactic. This is an appeal to fear, and a common one these days. It seems everybody is throwing something like this into their arguments. If you don't support my plan, we might well plunge further into depression. Maybe it's true, but it seems to me to be more calculated to cause a reaction than anything else. It really seems aimed at scaring folks into thinking this compromise must be passed. It seems aimed at scaring folks into putting pressure on their elected representatives to support this compromise, and scaring the representatives into supporting it in order to avoid the fallout should they not support it and a double-dip recession (with sprinkles?) really happen.
It is important to point out that the use of scare tactics says nothing about the substance of the position. Larry Summers might well be right. He, and others, have given loads of other justifications for their positions. This comment, however, really has little to do with why he might be right. It is not a real reason to support this tax compromise. It is a scare tactic.
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