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Originally Posted by silentreader

Finally, those looking to discredit Keynesian economics have to explain WW2 and it's effects on the American economy, because from where I'm sitting it looks like a classic example of a massive stimulus program reviving an economy.

Please see page 4 of the PDF at this LINK

Excerpt:

Another way to understand the problem is through the marginal productivity of
debt. This is the ratio of additional GDP to additional debt, or the amount of new GDP contributed by the creation of $1 in new debt. It is this ratio that determines the quality of total debt. Indeed, the higher the ratio, the more successful entrepreneurs are in increasing productivity, which is the only valid justification for going into debt in the first place. The concept is due to the Hungarian-born Chicago economist Melchior Palyi (1892-1970), although its name has been introduced after he died.

And from page 6:

The year 2006 was the watershed. Late in that year the marginal productivity of debt dropped below zero for the first time ever, switching on the red alert sign to warn of an imminent economic catastrophe. Indeed, in February, 2007, the risk of debt default as measured by the skyrocketing cost of CDS (credit default swaps) exploded and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.