4 ms·

Given the headline I expected more of an argument about how Obama's stimulus plan is Keynesianism's first "true" test. Really the argument amounts to this: 1.

Given the headline I expected more of an argument about how Obama's stimulus plan is Keynesianism's first "true" test. Really the argument amounts to this: 1. FDR didn't really try Keynesianism until he was forced to during WWII (the 30s didn't count). Too little Keynes. 2. The whiz kids of the 60s took Keynes too seriously. 3. The ~$650 billion Obama wants to spend follows directly from Keynes's formula. Goldilocks Keynes. Not particularly rigorous, but the link to the "Marginal Revolution" blog might be fruitful. http://www.marginalrevolution.com/ http://www.marginalrevolution.com/

deleted 18y ago
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russell 18y ago
Richard Nixon said, "I am a Keynesian." Obama is no better than in second place (in Keynsianism :-).
- iuguy 18y ago
  To be fair, Richard Nixon also said 'I am not a crook' and that turned out to be untrue.
  - paddy_m 18y ago
    Nixon was a keynesian and a statist. I'm not calling him a statist becuase of what he did in watergate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-66 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-66 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-76 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-76 (moved us off of the gold standard, giving the government complete control over our currency) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-Hetzel2008_p92-72 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-Hetzel2... (implemented price controls on agricultural products) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-.2770s_180-137 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-.2770s_... (established the EPA) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-pbs2-69 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-pbs2-69 (established OSHA) Nixon was far from what I or most people would consider a classical.
mattmcknight 18y ago
I find the assumption that the WWII spending helped us. As in "Then, finally, geopolitical events took over, and World War II forced Roosevelt to spend as much money as Keynes wanted. " In fact, our exports ramped up because the industrial capacity of the rest of the world was destroyed. Our economic golden era following the war was driven by exports- first selling military equipment to the UK, and then other industrial goods after the war as we were the one of the only places making anything. The money we gave to other countries to rebuild was spent on a lot of American goods. It's really the Chinese who are trying that approach, lending us money to buy their exports and then hopefully collecting the interest later (except we keep borrowing more money to pay the interest). At some point (now?) this starts to fall apart. One way is that we have massive inflation so that our future debts aren't worth much.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

russell 18y ago

Richard Nixon said, "I am a Keynesian." Obama is no better than in second place (in Keynsianism :-).

iuguy 18y ago
To be fair, Richard Nixon also said 'I am not a crook' and that turned out to be untrue.
- paddy_m 18y ago
  Nixon was a keynesian and a statist. I'm not calling him a statist becuase of what he did in watergate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-66 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-66 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-76 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-76 (moved us off of the gold standard, giving the government complete control over our currency) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-Hetzel2008_p92-72 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-Hetzel2... (implemented price controls on agricultural products) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-.2770s_180-137 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-.2770s_... (established the EPA) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-pbs2-69 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon#cite_note-pbs2-69 (established OSHA) Nixon was far from what I or most people would consider a classical.

mattmcknight 18y ago

I find the assumption that the WWII spending helped us. As in "Then, finally, geopolitical events took over, and World War II forced Roosevelt to spend as much money as Keynes wanted. " In fact, our exports ramped up because the industrial capacity of the rest of the world was destroyed. Our economic golden era following the war was driven by exports- first selling military equipment to the UK, and then other industrial goods after the war as we were the one of the only places making anything. The money we gave to other countries to rebuild was spent on a lot of American goods. It's really the Chinese who are trying that approach, lending us money to buy their exports and then hopefully collecting the interest later (except we keep borrowing more money to pay the interest). At some point (now?) this starts to fall apart. One way is that we have massive inflation so that our future debts aren't worth much.