As part of the new, post-Select era, here's a Paul Krugman blog of sorts.
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Krugblog
19 Sep 2007 08:53 am
Comments (5)
Thanks for the link, Matt!
Shorter Paul Krugman: The Great Depression and WWII were awesome, awesome, awesome times for the USA. We should recreate the Nirvana that occurred in the 1930s and 1940s.
Actually from the chart Krugman puts up, it was the 50's and 60's that was the Golden Age (what Krugman labeled "Middle Class America"). The Great Compression appears to have occurred betweeen 1937 and 1947 (we ramped up defense spending and brought back the draft soon after World War II began in 1939). If I remember correctly the GDP increased by over a 100% in the same period, so its not like The Great Compression reduced inequality by sinking all boats.
It was the dramatic increase in defense spending (with the higher taxes and government borrowing to pay for it) that was the prime driver of this economic shift. War is never awesome, but its hard to argue World War II was an unnecessary war. FDR had to fight it and his government did a good job managing a wartime economy.
One could imagine a president fighting an unnecessary war and mismanaging a wartime economy, but I guess that's what Mitt Romney would call a "null set".
"...his government did a good job managing a wartime economy."
JK Galbraith is a name you could attach to that good management, along with many others. And IIRC, JKG retained a faith in that degree of gov't intervention in the economy long after the war. Too bad he wasn't listened to.
Are we listening yet? 90% marginal rates and gov't near 50% of GDP should be in the Democratic platform. Or secret policy, if the Rethugs have brainwashed America.
Comments closed October 03, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
I'm predicting one of the ugliest comment sections on the internet.
And Matt, what the hell is with that stupid survey pop up?
Posted by Rob | September 19, 2007 9:49 AM