> Keynesianism the US applied before 1973 is fundamentally different It is true, but I think it was more about war reconstruction and applied automation that d

> Keynesianism the US applied before 1973 is fundamentally different It is true, but I think it was more about war reconstruction and applied automation that drove the public spending up. Governments had to deal with the consequences of the war and made everything possible to give people a job, a purpose, to let the war behind. The crisis of 1973 revealed the truth: that kind of growth is not sustainable, especially if it's global (in Italy we call that period "Italian economic miracle", it was more "spending the Marshall's plan money without thinking of the consequences on the future"). But without doubts it was different from Reaganomics, if I'm not wrong it was even possible to approve in the 60s a public healthcare system (kind of) in USA named Medicare. Of course the conservative attacked the idea and Reagan in particular was very vocal about invasion of the freedom and all the usual things they say. But, if Reagan's idea of economy won is not because Reagan was particularly good, but because lobbies invested an enormous amount of money on propaganda and people in the 70s had good jobs, a powerful enemy to fight, baby boomers had lived 30 years of peace, fought no war and didn't think enough of the consequences of leaving the poorest behind. They had been educated to believe that if you put enough effort in something, you will succeed. If you don't succeed, it's because you haven't worked hard enough. In places like Europe, were being socialist was not seen as a crime, public debate never ceased to address the fundamental differences between a free market economy (even with Keynesian bits) and a more equal society based on the idea that everyone deserves the same level of services from the state and the same protection, regardless of the single economic power. So in a way USA before 1973 was more similar to what we call socialism, but not for the same (correct?) reason. It was the best way they had found to sustain growth and fight unemployment and consequently discontent, but they did'nt really believe in a more equal society, that is the base for the economic ideas of socialism.