Well, I think we know who slept through History class...

[kayshapero]

Dear Powers that Be - you guys would appear to be afraid of the wrong things, or maybe just not afraid enough.  Pissing off nearly everybody is a bad idea.  And the time to fear isn't when people are peacefully demonstrating, it's when you've been stupid enough to drive them out.  Heaven help you if you succeed in that endeavor.  The solution is to try and solve the problem brought before you.  The messenger is not the problem.

Oh, and Google the term "Hooverville".  Then go read Kipling...

Comments

Re: History lesson

[rhjunior.livejournal.com]

False again. Economists have confirmed that FDR's social programs did nothing but remove money-- and workers-- from the economy.

Re: History lesson

[niall-shapero.livejournal.com]

And what economist says this? Reference?

Re: History lesson

[niall-shapero.livejournal.com]

Since you don't apparently have the time to supply a reference, I will:

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal#Keynesian_and_monetarist_interpretations at Wikipedia:
“Most indexes worsened until the summer of 1932, which may be called the low point of the depression economically and psychologically. Economic indicators show the American economy reached nadir in summer 1932 to February 1933, then began recovering until the recession of 1937–1938. Thus the Federal Reserve Industrial Production Index hit its low of 52.8 on 1932-07-01 and was practically unchanged at 54.3 on 1933-03-01; however by 1933-07-01, it reached 85.5 (with 1935–39 = 100, and for comparison 2005 = 1,342). In Roosevelt's 12 years in office, the economy had an 8.5% compound annual growth of GDP, the highest growth rate in the history of any industrial country, however, recovery was slow; by 1939, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per adult was still 27% below trend.”

1929 1931 1933 1937 1938 1940
101.4 84.3 68.3 103.9 96.7 113.0 Real GNP in 1929 dollars
122.5 108.7 92.4 102.7 99.4 100.2 CPI (where 1935-39 is 100).

The statistics show fairly clearly that FDR’s policies were making progress and then, just as the Republican emphasis on budget cutting took hold after the 1936 election, things got worse (although correlation isn’t causation, I think a good case can still be made for the dismantling of FDR’s programs by the Republicans hurt the country). Or, as stated on Wikipedia:

"The Roosevelt Administration was under assault during FDR's second term, which presided over a new dip in the Great Depression in the fall of 1937 that continued through most of 1938. Production declined sharply, as did profits and employment. Unemployment jumped from 14.3% in 1937 to 19.0% in 1938. Keynesian economists speculated that this was a result of a premature effort to curb government spending and balance the budget, while conservatives said it was caused by attacks on business and by the huge strikes caused by the organizing activities of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the American Federation of Labor (AFL)."

Re: History lesson

[rhjunior.livejournal.com]

"Keynesian economists speculated" is about as valid an analysis as "the witch doctor in Boonga Boonga theorized."

The conservatives were right.

Re: History lesson

[niall-shapero.livejournal.com]

Unless and until you can provide a source of cold hard numbers, you're basically just claiming that because you claim you're right, you are.

I provided cold hard numbers which would indicate that I (and those Keynesian economists) are right. If you wish to dispute, provide facts that would at least appear to back up your statements.