Amity Shlaes on The Great Depression

[TheAmericanRifleman]

I followed the link on the NRO site but the file could not be found. Bummer.

[HiramBinghamIII]

"the longer and more painful depressions under governments that maintained balanced budgets and laissez-faire principles (UK, Belgium, Netherlands et al.) further refutes Schlaes' argument."

Your argument is antithetical to itself! If the size of the taxable economy shrinks then so does revenue, which creates the natural impulse of the govt. bureaucrat to raise taxes in order to make up the revenue shortfall. This action reduces incentives for growth further shrinking the economy even more.

[HiramBinghamIII]

The conception that 'country-club friends are gonna gang rape our bank accounts' is negated by the incentive structures in the free-market dynamic which ensure the extinction of such businesses unless external intervention saves the entity or entities (aka govt.). A business can make FAR more money by being honest. The consumer creates this incentive with every purchase they make (a vote).

[HiramBinghamIII]

"The META-PREMISE is that the private sector, unfettered will work it's MAGIC.

However, from ENRON of 2001 to Lehman Bros today we can see that there is simply NO EVIDENCE to support this IDEA."

Aberrational phenomena hardly compose any type of rational rule. Conversely, this rule is not even congruent, because the market trend that created the collapse of Lehman was created by the govt. managed institutions of Fannie and Freddie.

[HiramBinghamIII]

"FDR's New Deal did definitively help the situation early on (e.g. unemployment 25%-->15%) "

It was artificial. All Keynesian econ. policy is artificial which is why Lord Keynes himself admitted his model was unsustainable long term but that did not matter, because as he put it, he would be dead!

[TheRealCritique]

THis woman is a worthless stale frigid republicack shovelling bullshit theories about workers and capital that have just recently been PROVEN to be total bullshit. The PEOPLE need to regulate business, end of story, otherwise twats like this and their weenie whiny country-club friends are gonna gang rape our bank accounts. Complete sack of dirt.

[OmarThePug]

whagger whabbit!!!!!.. What's up Doc?

[alwaysright10000]

Fart @ :47

[leeroynaggins]

really interesting interview. Interesting point of view.

Her premise that FDR's NEW DEAL sucked money out of the private sector is plausible.

The META-PREMISE is that the private sector, unfettered will work it's MAGIC.

However, from ENRON of 2001 to Lehman Bros today we can see that there is simply NO EVIDENCE to support this IDEA.

Obviously what is needed is both.

Strong investment by both private and public. They both can do what the other cannot.

BALANCE IS NEEDED FOR PROSPERITY

[BrezhnevIsMyCoPilot]

There is a paucity of evidence to back up Shlaes' thesis (i.e. "government made the Great Depression worse"). FDR's New Deal did definitively help the situation early on (e.g. unemployment 25%-->15%) and the recession in 1937-38 occurred AFTER FDR imposed budget austerity measures.

A brief examination of the longer and more painful depressions under governments that maintained balanced budgets and laissez-faire principles (UK, Belgium, Netherlands et al.) further refutes Schlaes' argument.

[jpbalkenende]

Amity Shlaes is an idiot, she's just a hyper partisan pundit nothing more. On sept 2 2005 a few days after Katrina hit she declared "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" in her column. It's thanks to braindead free market fundies who've never studied a page of economics like her that we are in this mess. She agreed with Phill Gramm that "America is a nation of whiners" because we didn't like the way they've handles the economy. Send her to death row for all I'm concerned.

[loudcosmicyummy]

Did you read her book?

[jpbalkenende]

I'm not paying for that garbage. I did read her columns and her appearances on a few shows like Charlie Rose though. She's shameless. I mean it's one thing to sell this bullcrap when things are looking good/okay/not terrible, it's something else entirely when your bullshit has wrecked the economy and you're still not stopping. She has no background in economics, she should shut the hell up.

[herbs814]

the people who are shameless are the idiots who blame capitalism. capitalism is the only thing that produces anything of value for society. Government does nothing besides get in the way and steal from those who produce. the problem with our economy, then and now, is that there is too much government and not enough capitalism.

[SamuelCyrus]

@jpbalkenende Whoever tried to educate you should give you a refund.

[resesmilk2]

read

[mupman0]

Now I can't really tell you you're wrong when it comes to your opinions. That's because I don't really care for politics and history. However, I don't appreciate when people wish death upon my aunt. So, calm down, would you?

[jpbalkenende]

Fair enough...

[specultr]

Amity Shlaes has no economic training. She's a journalist, with a degree in English, pontificating on history and economics--subjects that she doesn't understand.

[loudcosmicyummy]

Well based on your standards, Noam Chomsky shouldn't talk about politics either (one can only hope). His training is entirely in the field of linguistics.

[MTSociety]

Stop George Noory Now!

[BillyPi1grim]

Please, this is almost completely out of context from the video. It suggests capitalism failed and Roosevelt saved us.