In the midst of detailing the Tea Party’s frightening impact on Washington politics — frightening to establishment politicians and media pundits, that is — TIME’s Michael Crowley buys into the key notions of Keynesian economics.

Ample research shows that tax cuts and government spending during a downturn can restore growth, making up for lost economic activity of households and businesses, while big spending cuts only compound the problem, leading to even slower growth. This idea is at the core of the economic theory propounded by British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose ideas are taught in most major university economics departments.

And Karl Marx’s ideas are taught in every major university’s history and political science departments. That doesn’t make those ideas true.

Roy Cordato has explained for us repeatedly why Keynesianism doesn’t work.