Considering that the Obama administration has been modeling its fiscal policy on what Franklin Roosevelt did during the New Deal, it is worth noting how Larry Summers judges the New Deal.
Being interviewed by Charlie Rose, Summers explained: “Never forget, never forget, and I think it’s very important for Democrats especially to remember this, that if Hitler had not come along, Franklin Roosevelt would have left office in 1941 with an unemployment rate in excess of 15 percent and an economic recovery strategy that had basically failed.”
Now he tells us.
From Greg Mankiw’s blog.
Being interviewed by Charlie Rose, Summers explained: “Never forget, never forget, and I think it’s very important for Democrats especially to remember this, that if Hitler had not come along, Franklin Roosevelt would have left office in 1941 with an unemployment rate in excess of 15 percent and an economic recovery strategy that had basically failed.”
Now he tells us.
From Greg Mankiw’s blog.
are we really SO deep in denial that we can convince ourselves that all of this deceit and dishonor in the money system
ReplyDeleteISN'T going to result in a massive conflict over debt/commodities/promises unfulfilled??
when the shell game's over the suckers get angry.
whether the US, Europe or China is the sucker is almost irrelevant.
-shoe
"a trillion here, a trillion there...pretty soon we're talkin' real money."
except when it's some poor sucker's retirement stash.
i laughed driving home today listening to NPR, when i heard the radio jockey imply that a "Dodd-Frank" bill was somehow going to somehow repair the fiscal idiocy in Wash,DC.
astounding.
-shoe
Summers is correct. Without WWII Progressivism would have died the political death it should have had.
ReplyDeleteThe really funny part is that here we have the situation where those who cannot understand the bills they vote on, are not the least conversant with economics, business, et al, are the ones telling the rest of us that it is just too complex for us to understand. The sad part here is that a significant number of people understand the ramifications of the actions of our supposed elected representatives FAR better than they do. It would almost be funny if it was not so pathetic and indicative of the incompetence emanating from our nation's capital.
If FDR had , as Wilson did, gone down in ignominious defeat along with his Progressive ideas we would not have had the "long march" toward having so many voters' lives tied to a government handout. The more they are tied the less free they become. It becomes a "bird in the hand is better than two in the bush" logic that controls those who have become slaves to the state.
Compassion NEVER should reside with governments and absolve the individual from his/her responsibility to be personal involved. It only serve to make government stronger and the individual weaker. We quickly find justifications for explaining why we have become the people we do not like. Much of the nastiness we see comes from that unconscious understanding.
We have a chance to take that responsibility we should have as citizens and individuals and lead to a freer world, but it will require teaching people who have been given "fish tails' for sustenance to learn that they can successfully fish on their own and actually have enough to take care of others. What seems to be a handout is a hand around the throat to the status of a fully successful human being.
Quite helpful data, lots of thanks for your article.
ReplyDelete