Fly in the ointment

[libertango]

There is a meme that's re-emerged from the Republicans lately:

"The New Deal didn't get us out of the Great Depression -- WWII did."

Here's the problem, from a Republican point-of-view: This is still a Keynesian statement. It says the New Deal wasn't big enough, and it was only with the spending generated by WWII that government investment in the economy finally did get big enough.

Here's what you don't hear:

"The New Deal didn't get us out of the Great Depression -- GM, GE, and the rest of the private sector did."

Oops.

Comments

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

Tax cuts stimulate the economy. Privatizing prisons and schools will make them more efficient. Industries can police themselves without needing regulations. Is there anything they've predicted correctly that will bring their batting average up from zilch?

[daveon.livejournal.com]

You know I had noticed that myself, and chuckled over the fact that none of the Republicans or heavy free market libertarians had noticed that during WW2 the governments of various countries were running something like half the economy.

There's also an interesting statistic that by the end of WW2 the UK was more of a command economy centrally run than Germany was, and that was helping Britain out produce Germany in almost every area.

[shikzoid.livejournal.com]

Someone once said that Republican meme to my father, who grew up on a Montana cattle ranch. His response was: "If World War Two brought us out of The Great Depression, next time we see a depression coming on we should cull some of the good males from the breeding stock."

Now you know where my sarcastic nature comes from.