I agree with what Gene Coyle said, although not with his terminology. I regard the crisis in the manifestation of deeper contradictions that may be pestering over a long period of time. The Taft-Hartley law was the opening salvo in a long struggle to roll back the New Deal. The 1960s were a setback to this project, but it picked up with a vengeance during the 1970s.
The Confiscation of American Prosperity fortuitously came out in October 2007, while the stock market was peaking. I concentrated on the period following the 1960s, but Gene's starting point is also a good place to begin. Class warfare increased profits, which followed a Minsky-like trajectory to hedge financing and finally Ponzi status. But the underlying problem was not finance, but rather an ongoing neglect of basic forces of production, both human and produced. Kindleberger once wrote: "Details proliferate; structure abides." I'm not alone in making this point, but it has certainly not been center stage in much discussion lately. Gene deserves credit for bringing it to our attention. -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
