If they had been doing what good Keynesian policy demanded of them then, paying down the debt, running a budget surplus instead of the 3-4% deficit they were running, then we could be good Keynesians now and could borrow our way out of the current slump and do some fiscal stimulus.

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"There's a big surplus of beef calves in northern areas where the climate is good and pastures are rich, " he said.

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Since Japan's widening trade surplus reflects the depressed state of its economy, it is hardly good news.

ECONOMIST: Hold your tongue

But subsistence farmers, who, with their families, are perhaps 85% of the population, still find it hard to amass the necessary surplus in good years to see them through the bad.

ECONOMIST: Facing famine, Ethiopia appeals urgently for food aid

Those with good policies (low inflation, a budget surplus and openness to trade) and good institutions (little corruption, strong rule of law, effective bureaucracy) benefited from the aid they got.

ECONOMIST: How to make aid work | The