David P. Goldman says we need to procreate ourselves back to prosperity. At First Things, Goldman chides Republicans for all the failed and weak-kneed responses to the outrage that is (in his view) the Obama economic program. The cause of the crisis was not fiscal recklessness, but the demographic dip. Hence:

The first thing that conservatives have to tell Americans is: “You are poorer because you failed to bring up enough children. The decline of the traditional family is undermining the American economy.”

A few grafs on he continues:

Conservatives have to cast the blame for the crisis at the culture of death. It isn’t only home prices, of course. If the labor force shrinks because the next generation simply fails to appear, who will pay taxes to support pensions and medical care for the elderly? Unlike Japan or most of Europe, America still has a fertility rate close to replacement. It isn’t past the point of demographic no return.

There are a few things that economic policy can do right away to make things better. Big tax cuts (in the form of a per-child exemption) that help families with children will do more to revive the economy than infrastructure boondoggles. Young families spend; empty-nesters save. That’s elementary. If you want to get more spending, put more money into the hands of the demographic cohort that has the greatest propensity to spend.

Hey, sex AND spending. It’s an irresistible bailout, er, rescue. Certainly the demographic hurdle of all us old folks weighing on too few kids is a serious challenge. Then again, maybe lower housing prices resulting from this downturn might actually result in housing that parents like me could even dream of affording, resulting in somewhat greater security when we are decrepit, and less of a burden (I pray) on our progeny.