Via Yglesias, Arnold Kling explained a few days ago why there is no economic consensus over the stimulus:
…the consensus of economists is likely to be more reliable on microeconomic issues than it is on macroeconomic issues. In my view, fundamental macroeconomic issues are unsettled…
This makes sense: it is much easier to do experiments with micro-economic principles and, as Manzi has written, "experiments end debates." In other Kling news, Megan has demanded retractions from Wolcott and Adam Serwer. She got a response from Serwer, but Wolcott remains mum. And now Paul Krugman has piled on the thug bandwagon even after the quote was disputed. Lovely. My second post on Kling here.
The Dish 