Money doesn't care where it comes from

Kthug writes about what is going on with the European economy:

Look, I understand why influential people are reluctant to admit that policy ideas they thought reflected deep wisdom actually amounted to utter, destructive folly. But it’s time to put delusional beliefs about the virtues of austerity in a depressed economy behind us.

They have it backwards, as usual. I'm no economist, but if there is one thing we should have learned in the last 80 years, it is that we can't wait for the economy to improve before we spend money -- rather, our economies improve BECAUSE money is being spent. Like any simplistic idea, of course, this can be carried too far, but basically money doesn't care where it comes from. Whether the money in an economy comes from a government or not, it is the circulation that is important, not the origin.