Does anyone in this section have any understanding of economic theory, or do they just spew ideology?

I use my understanding of economic theory to spew a lot of ideology :)

Well, constant expansion of the money supply is not only sustainable, it is desirable, provided the expansion is small. Zero, or even worse, negative monetary growth causes consumers and businesses to postpone purchases since they have a reasonable expectation that prices may drop in the future. Borrowing is discouraged because it is possible that future currency used to pay the debt will be more dear than the currency borrowed, increasing the real interest rate. On the other hand, a small increase in the money supply encourages consumption and investment. This is why central banks do not target a zero monetary growth, but rather a small positive growth in the money supply consistent with an inflation rate of 1-2%.

The two are often closely intermeshed. I earned a BS in Economics, though I haven't much used it my career, so I'm a bit rusty, but I like to think I remember enough to help folks with some of the, really, very basic questions and misconceptions that come up here.

You're absolutely right about the fact that people come here to criticize the economy and yet have no personally researched information to back up what they say. People go online and surf for opinions offered by politically motivated groups and post unanalyzed figures in their argument. I would never do just for an argument's sake, that would be completely superficial

I don't know much about economics but I plan on taking two courses next year

They can spew whatever ideology they want and they should back it up. You cannot prove them wrong unless it's something that's factually incorrect in history.

But do share this 'Economic theory', I'm sure everyone in the world would love to know the secret.

Economics is not exactly a 'hard science'. No matter what you want to do or prove, you can find economists to back you up. Most of what most people know about economics they hear from politicians, or from media heavily influenced by politicians. The stuff they hear, of course, is more or less designed to justify actions the government wants to take, or to support someone's campaign principles.

Here's an economic and political ideology and the theory behind it.

http://www.mises.org/

Fact: Who was in office during the downfall of the Great Depression?

Conservative

Fact: Who was in office during the end of the Great Depression?

Liberal

Fact: Who was in office during the latest downfall?

Conservative

Fact: Who did we elect to office?

Liberal

History seems to be pretty in check for now, and that's all you can really base economic theory on.

The Democrats have an outstanding understanding of economic theory.

The republicans just spout BS, because they are still bitter about losing the last election.

Hey Republicans: you wouldn't give us 40 acres and a mule, so we TOOK 50 states and the "White" House.

You lost - get over it.

It's OUR turn now... :-)

Once you wade through the crap (there's lots of it) you can find a few nuggets of intelligence.