Is the “obsession” with extending the expansion useful or dangerous?

In all OECD countries, we can currently see that economic policies have a n " obsession " with extending the expansion period: expansionary fiscal policy in the United States, Japan and some euro-zone countries; expansionary monetary policy in the euro zone, the United Kingdom, Japan, and even in the United States. This obsession is probably explained by the desire to have a long period of growth to offset the seriousness of the crisis. The first question is whether it can be effective. The answer is yes if it leads to a rise in the participation rate and the employment rate or to greater productivity gains. The second question is whether this determination is dangerous. That is definitely the case : it is eliminat ing the countercyclical capacities of economic policies in the future; it is lead ing to a risk of financial instability (expansionary monetary and fiscal policies at full employment). It is obviously unreasonable to take these risk s if the obsession is ineffective .