During the recent boom, prior to the crises that world economies are experiencing, Germany was looked at as a slow growth, boring economy. Lack of risk taking protected them somewhat in the crisis that followed. Now, Europe is pressuring Germany to invest heavily in the government sponsored remedies to the crisis and Germany is very reluctant to do so but probably will. In the crash of the Japanese economy of the 1990s, Japan sponsored an enormous infrastructure building program that wound up prolonging the recession.
John Maynard Keynes revolutionized economics in the 1930s. He emphasized working on employment issues and therefore "demand." The classical theory would look more at means to increase supply. The debate went back and forth throughout the decades. Was Keynesian economics responsible for the sluggishness of the 1970s? Did monetary policy bring about the robust 80s? Most of us were raised being taught that Roosevelt's economic policies brought us out of the Depression. Others say the Roosevelt prolonged the Depression and that only the advent of WWII brought us out of it. Keynes was right about one thing. Europe had no magnanimity towards Germany after WWI. Hitler used a giant works program to put his people to work and build a following that supported him but his building included a military that would wreak havoc on the world along with Hitler's maniacal tyranny.
Jonah Goldberg wrote a book in 2007 called LIBERAL FASCISM (ISBN 0385511841) that I highly recommend. It was Amazon.com's history book of the year. His thesis is that liberalism can breed fascism. I believe this for when radical liberals get power, all bets are off, and they seek to rule with abandon because, well because they are "right." This is a monumental financial crisis that we are in. In my mind, throwing enormous amounts of money around when many other variables not directly related to an economic theory is dangerous.
John Maynard Keynes revolutionized economics in the 1930s. He emphasized working on employment issues and therefore "demand." The classical theory would look more at means to increase supply. The debate went back and forth throughout the decades. Was Keynesian economics responsible for the sluggishness of the 1970s? Did monetary policy bring about the robust 80s? Most of us were raised being taught that Roosevelt's economic policies brought us out of the Depression. Others say the Roosevelt prolonged the Depression and that only the advent of WWII brought us out of it. Keynes was right about one thing. Europe had no magnanimity towards Germany after WWI. Hitler used a giant works program to put his people to work and build a following that supported him but his building included a military that would wreak havoc on the world along with Hitler's maniacal tyranny.
Jonah Goldberg wrote a book in 2007 called LIBERAL FASCISM (ISBN 0385511841) that I highly recommend. It was Amazon.com's history book of the year. His thesis is that liberalism can breed fascism. I believe this for when radical liberals get power, all bets are off, and they seek to rule with abandon because, well because they are "right." This is a monumental financial crisis that we are in. In my mind, throwing enormous amounts of money around when many other variables not directly related to an economic theory is dangerous.
