Posted by
Andrews on Friday, February 13, 2009 11:19:41 AM
I have to ask those who insist the government must "do something" to resolve our current problems, whether conservative or liberal, if "economic stimulus" is such a sure solution, why did the nations of Europe come out of the depression in the early 30's, while, with all our stimulus by both Hoover and FDR, our economic woes persisted right up to our entry into the war? Isn't that an indication that maybe this whole "priming the pump" nonsense is just that, nonsense?
I hate that "doing the same thing" quote often attributed (
somewhat dubiously) to Einstein, so I won't toss it out, but for those who claim to be "
pragmatists" and not "
bound by dogma", doesn't this provide pretty strong empirical evidence that trying to spend our way to prosperity is a losing proposition? If not, then how does our current situation differ from FDR's? Even better, an anyone tell me one time that a nation spent its way out of an economic slump? And if you can name one, can you show me where it did not suffer an even worse crash shortly afterward?
I await the answers.
POSTSCRIPT
By the way, for those buying the Obama claim that this is the worst economic time since the Great Depression, there is
an informative article by Terence Jeffrey refuting those claims. Of course, I always point to the statement "worst unemployment since 2001" or "worst since 1981" to point out that it can't be the worst since the Great Depression, as 1981 came between the Depression and the present, but no one seems to get it.