Two UCLA economists say they have figured out why the Great Depression dragged on for almost 15 years, and they blame a suspect previously thought to be beyond reproach: President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
After scrutinizing Roosevelt's record for four years, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years.
"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."
In an article in the August issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Ohanian and Cole blame specific anti-competition and pro-labor measures that Roosevelt promoted and signed into law June 16, 1933.
"President Roosevelt believed that excessive competition was responsible for the Depression by reducing prices and wages, and by extension reducing employment and demand for goods and services," said Cole, also a UCLA professor of economics. "So he came up with a recovery package that would be unimaginable today, allowing businesses in every industry to collude without the threat of antitrust prosecution and workers to demand salaries about 25 percent above where they ought to have been, given market forces. The economy was poised for a beautiful recovery, but that recovery was stalled by these misguided policies."
107 comments:
Interesting. Were there not also some isolationist trade policies involved here?
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State? Bob Gates, staying on at Defense? Jim Jones, National Security Advisor? They've got to be shitting out some serious bricks over there at LC's. I gotta check it out.
O.K., I guess I was wrong. Lydia's actually ecstatic about Hillary joining the "team". Let's see if she stays this way once the drama starts.
The far left loons heads must be exploding.
BHO is the third term of Bubba.
I wonder if they will bring Monica back?
BHO made a BIG error with Hil.
I can see her and Willie plotting his demise.
I cant believe BHO and his people could be this friggin dumb.
He's covering his ass. Even HE knows he doesn't have enough experience so he's hiring people who do.
Voltron said...
He's covering his ass. Even HE knows he doesn't have enough experience so he's hiring people who do."
This from the IDIOT constantly defending that INCOMPETENT IMBECILE
GWB......................BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
Will the pathetic attenion seeking troll said"Speaking of which, perhaps these folks have already put forth their own Ten Commandments of politics; Thou shalt not be critical of Barack Obama - numero uno, obviously!"
Thats a Reich Wing talking point Billy................oh yeah youre in the right place for robotically spewing Reich Wing talking points.
but for the record your LYING and erecting strawmen as USUAL...............because Bart and I have both criticized and disagreed with Obama on MANY issues but unlike YOU we dont slime him with lies and slimy dishonest Reich Wing talking points!
Run away little Mike.
You idiots are NOW as irrelevant as your masters ENJOY...............because it may last for DECADES just like it did after Hoover and the repugs were removed from the levers of power just like a cancerous tumor!
Mike, you're a bald-faced liar. I have never slimed Obama. I have never hit him with Wright, Ayers or any of that shit. And I defended him over the Marxism charges. I just have some problems with the fellow in certain areas and I've voiced them (yes, in my opinion, he is a Bush-Lite). Live with it. P.S. I NEVER said that Obama wanted to "occupy" or "carpet-bomb" Pakistan. That is an over-the-top lie that you really should corrrect, buddy (the real frigging robot)/paranoid stooge.
Mike, amongst your list of Bush villains was Bob Gates. Well, it appears that your hero doesn't necessarily agree with you. He might be keeping him on, actually. And HILLARY!! as Secretary of Defense? Where's the "change", bro?
So, too, there had to have been better candidates for A.G. than Eric Holder. What's that? Oh, yeah, maybe they just weren't Marc Rich enough.
Will,take a break.There is'nt anything you could say to make any of these drones say something negative about BHO....hell,he could name Dr.Kevorkian as Surgeon General and they would justify it.
Sit back and wait about six months....no tax increases,no universial healthcare,troops still in Irag....the loons will be going crazy.
Actually, Rusty, I was thinking about some of this stuff. What if Obama actually IS a centrist, after all? Will the LCs of the world turn on him? Or will they spin it all in his favor? P.S. How 'bout the Mikester, though? He shoots his wad on Bob Gates, only to learn that Obama just might keep Bob Gates. It really must suck to be Mike sometimes.
Measured, as always, Clif.
What's this I'm hearing now, Obama might NOT repeal Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy? Yeah, I kinda think that that IS an explosion (Cliffy's head?) I hear.
Yea Will,that along with no raise to the capital gains tax and no health care for at least two years.
Oh boy....I could see Klink climbing up the steps of the water tower rifle in hand.
The loons may very well have another Jimmy Carter on their hands.
Klink,I'm sure Mr.Anderson appreciate's your concern for him.
I'd also venture a guess that he could care less what someone like you thinks.
He's does more for his country in one hour then you've done your entire like.I think he might consider you a stone loser.
Loser.
Actually, Clif, except for Eric Holder for Attorney General, I have to give Mr. Obama some pretty decent marks on his appointments. I'm encouraged. Maybe he'll prove me right and be a pragmatist after all.
The dry drunk sounds off again...
WHERE THE ‘DEFAULT’ LIES
November 25, 2008
As Citigroup careened down the road to destruction, its board and top executives were giving a bum steer - too busy counting their huge salaries, fees, bonuses and stock options to put the brakes on the wild speculation that nearly destroyed the once-proud American icon.
There’s no shortage of blame, but if a vote were taken for mayor of the Citi of Fools, Robert Rubin, the most prominent member of the bank’s board of directors, would almost certainly win hands down.
Rubin, a former treasury secretary, played a key role by leading Citi into a risky strategy of gambling on the weirdest and most exotic investments - like securities backed by subprime mortgages that probably would never be paid.
As long as the money and bonuses kept rolling in, who cared if no one really knew what all these strange securities were worth?
Certainly not Rubin, who was paid an astonishing $62.2 million between 2004 and 2007 - or his fellow bozos on the board.
“Citigroup’s board of directors increasingly resembles a first-class sleeping car on a train wreck that just keeps happening,” said J. Richard Findlay, head of the Centre for Corporate & Public Governance.
“Almost whatever it does, it is too slow and too late.
“It can take months for Citigroup’s directors to clue into what others in the real world have known for some time.”
Noting that Citi’s stock has lost more than $133 billion this year alone, Findlay said, “Citigroup’s board has demonstrated that it has not been on top of any major issue in more than a decade, much less ahead of it.”
Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, told The Post that Citi’s board consistently misled the public.
“Even up until last week, we were told Citi was a strong institution, but it’s clear now that things are a lot worse than we knew,” he said.
“Where was the board during this? It’s very troubling.”
Thanks to the negligence of board members - who smiled for the cameras as they assured anyone who’d listen that everything was A-OK - taxpayers are now on the hook for $351 billion.
"Not that any of you gutless chicken shit chicken hawks would ever really understand that."
Gee Cliffy, I didn't know they were fighting to establish socialism...
People in glass houses Cliffy...
You could probably give lessons in being an asshole.
Klink,you need to talk to the the VA doctors about changing your meds,the ones they have you on are'nt working so well.
Looks like numbnuts is heading back to LC....where they think he's Sgt.York.
Pity isn't it Rusty?
And they claim we're haters...
Ask, Voltron, Clif, I always said that I thought/hoped that Obama was a pragmatist. He hung with Wright out of expediency, not because he ever believed that shit. And one more time, Clif, I defended McCain because that article at LC's accused him of treason. I thought that that was way over the top and expressed those feelings. It was your paranoia that went in a shit-load of various other directions.
Will, I'm afraid your hope for Obama being pragmatic is just about as realistic as the koolaid drinkers hope for change...
Odd that "change you can believe in" looks alot like the Clinton administration you couldn't.
If this turns out to be a continuation of the FDR presidency look for things to get much worse, not better.
Klink,there is a possibility I could get you a job as a greeter....you could wear your old uniform and glad hand people at the front door. What do you think?
It would be the perfect job for you a person with a sparkling personality....you could tell old war stories to the customers as they walk in.
You could get off public assistance.The munchkin would be able to tell her chums that her daddy actually works....just think how proud she'll be.
I can see it now,Col.Klink out by valet parking....standing there in your pressed dress uniform,saluting the high rollers.
Klink,is there a difference between Mr.A and George Soros?
They both spend their money on political causes they believe in.
I guess the only difference is that Sheldon Adelson is an american.
You should read Sheldon Adelsons story,its pretty damn interesting.A true american success story.
Klink,dont believe everything you read.
Why on earth do you have such an issue with people who make a little money.
What is your opinion of George Soros? He makes a bunch of money,in fact he made a shit load betting against the dollar.I'm guessing because his political views are similar to yours he's a pretty damn good guy.Right?
I have to work in the morning,how about you do a little investigative work and find out who has created more jobs in america,Adelson or Soros?
Klink,you've got to stop reading the tabloids.
Bring Mrs.Klink here to Las Vegas....see the wonderful buildings Sheldon Adelson has put up.Count how many people work for him.
You're right Klink,Mr.Adelson has wayyyyyyyy more money then I'll ever have,but I respect what he's done and still doing.
Klink,I dont work for Mr.Adelson's company,but I can tell you,his operation is well respected in Las Vegas.I think his employee's are pretty damn happy also.
Cheating the middle class? How does the gaming industry accomplish that?
I dont know of any casino operation that knocks people on the head and drags them to a table game or slot machine.
Rigging bets? I'd like to know how thats done.
Two words....Gaming Commission.
Klink,you really are an idiot.
Adios.
Hello citizens. Wow, another battle royal last night, I see. You're right, Voltron, he might NOT be a pragmatist. But don't you think that these appointments of his could have been a lot worse? Keeping Gates was prudent (the left-wing must be going ballistic over that one). Jones, Summers, those seem solid (Summers is a free-trader). And, besides, if he does end up going "Cliffy", there's a good chance he'll end up losing congress in 2010. Should be interesting, huh?
Even though I ended up voting for Barr I am a bit impressed by some of Obama's choices,although his cabinet is indeed Bubba III he has shied away from left wing loons,of course on that front the first opening on the Supreme's will be telling.
Obama's economic team is made up of free traders and some pretty damn solid people.
One issue I do have is the selection of Peter Orszag as director of the budget office.Who the hell was responsible for vetting this guy?Did they meet face to face?If in fact they did why did'nt anyone notice he was wearing perhaps the worst toupee in the history of toupee's.It looks like Pete was walking through a Wal Mart and snatched that rug off a mannequin.I'm pleading with the Obama transition team they demand Pete removes the toup.
This Jim Jones guy seems to be getting across the spectrum support. Hillary, on the other hand, I'm still a little perplexed by that. I mean, maybe she will do a good job and all but, I don't know, I think she still has designs on the Presidency and maybe the State department isn't the best job for somebody like that. Just a thought.
I do agree with Voltron on Rahm Emanuel, though. That frigging guy is as big a partisan stooge as anybody. He makes James Carville and Paul Begala look like Henry Clay.
Careful Will, he might send you a dead fish in the mail...
And Clif wonders why I like hanging out with you guys. LOL
Clif might be the fish...
If we don't get a chance to talk before then, Happy Thanksgiving Will.
You too Rusty.
Yeah you as well Clif. I know you're lurking.
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