Robert Reich’s article Trigger Happy: Why Deficit Cuts Should Be Triggered Only When Unemployment Reaches 5 Percent introduces the idea of deficit cuts only when the unemployment level drops sufficiently.

The President (remember him?) is still hawking his $450 billion jobs bill, but he’s having a hard time being heard above the deficit-reduction din — in large part because he himself is simultaneously calling for deficit reduction, and most people outside Washington can’t make sense of how we do both.

The public is confused because they don’t get it’s a matter of sequencing. We need to do more spending now in order to bring back jobs and growth, then do less spending in the future — after the economy is once again generating jobs and growth.

That’s why it make more sense for Democrats to propose a deficit reduction plan that goes into effect only when jobs are back. The trigger should be the rate of unemployment — and a 5 percent rate would signal we’re back on track.

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So the best of all worlds is to have a big jobs plan now, and also commit to automatic cuts triggered when unemployment falls to 5 percent.

Can anyone imagine such an insane idea as to have economic policy response tied to actual economic conditions?  (Warning:  The previous comment is meant to be sarcastic.)