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Exactly. Like in the 30s the government should step in and hire people. Companies can't do that in a recession/depression. However, the other side of Keynesian

Exactly. Like in the 30s the government should step in and hire people. Companies can't do that in a recession/depression. However, the other side of Keynesian economics that's not as often cited is that during the good times the government saves up for the inevitable bad times - we haven't done that for a long time.

daenz 6y ago
>Like in the 30s the government should step in and hire people What does the government usually hire people to do in this situation?
- UncleOxidant 6y ago
  In the 30s they hired people to build stuff. They hired artists to create public art as well - Woody Guthrie was paid to write songs, for example. We definitely could do similar now. Lots of infrastructure needs updating. We could accelerate the move to green energy (like the Green New Deal proposal). We could also hire a lot of people to do contact tracing until the end of the pandemic - this could include folks to do datamining, etc.
- mikeyouse 6y ago
  In the 1930s, it was the PWA which built tons of long-lasting infrastructure including the Hoover Dam and many substantial other projects; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Works_Administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Works_Administration That was probably the best use of funds at the time since there was broad based unemployment among a largely unskilled population. This time around, it seems like it's mostly service businesses that are struggling so it's not so clear what the best use of labor would be..
- x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority
toomuchtodo 6y ago
You'd need a New Deal [1] effort to do so, but both political parties in the US have no appetite [2] for that sort of legislative effort. It might happen if the quantity of suffering increases, but we're not there yet. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal [2] https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-platform-climate-change-fossil-fuel-subsidies https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-pl...
- UncleOxidant 6y ago
  I think the Dems would be open to a New Deal-like effort. They've got the Green New Deal proposal.

daenz 6y ago

>Like in the 30s the government should step in and hire people What does the government usually hire people to do in this situation?

UncleOxidant 6y ago
In the 30s they hired people to build stuff. They hired artists to create public art as well - Woody Guthrie was paid to write songs, for example. We definitely could do similar now. Lots of infrastructure needs updating. We could accelerate the move to green energy (like the Green New Deal proposal). We could also hire a lot of people to do contact tracing until the end of the pandemic - this could include folks to do datamining, etc.
mikeyouse 6y ago
In the 1930s, it was the PWA which built tons of long-lasting infrastructure including the Hoover Dam and many substantial other projects; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Works_Administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Works_Administration That was probably the best use of funds at the time since there was broad based unemployment among a largely unskilled population. This time around, it seems like it's mostly service businesses that are struggling so it's not so clear what the best use of labor would be..
x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority

toomuchtodo 6y ago

You'd need a New Deal [1] effort to do so, but both political parties in the US have no appetite [2] for that sort of legislative effort. It might happen if the quantity of suffering increases, but we're not there yet. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal [2] https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-platform-climate-change-fossil-fuel-subsidies https://www.vox.com/2020/8/19/21375039/dnc-2020-democrats-pl...

UncleOxidant 6y ago
I think the Dems would be open to a New Deal-like effort. They've got the Green New Deal proposal.