Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_01_4_higgs.pdf Regime Uncertainty: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War by Robert Higgs ...Finally, this way of understanding the Great Duration meshes nicely with a proper understanding of the Great Escape after the war. The Keynesians all expected a reversion to depression when the war ended. Most businesspeople, in sharp contrast, did not think that there was any threat of a serious depression after the war (Krooss 1970, 217). The businesspeople forecasted far better than the Keynesian economists: the private economy blossomed as never before or since. Official data, which understate the true increase because of mismeasurement of the price level, show an increase of real nongovernment domestic product of 29.5 percent from 1945 to 1946 (U.S. Council of Economic Advisers 1995, 406). Private investment boomed and corporate share prices soared in 1945 and 1946 (Higgs 19G92, 57–58). None of the standard explanations can account for this astonishing postwar leap, but an explanation that incorporates the improvement in the outlook for the private-property regime can account for it. From 1935 through 1940, with Roosevelt and the ardent New Dealers who surrounded him in full cry, private investors dared not risk their funds in the amounts typical of the late 1920s. In 1945 and 1946, with Roosevelt dead, the New Deal in retreat, and most of the wartime controls being removed, investors came out in force. To be sure, the federal government had become, and would remain, a much more powerful force to be reckoned with (Higgs 1987; Hughes 1991). But the government no longer seemed to possess the terrifying potential that businesspeople had perceived before the war. For investors, the nightmare was over. For the economy, once more, prosperity was possible. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:03 AM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_01_4_higgs.pdf Regime Uncertainty: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War by Robert Higgs Who is a laissez-fair economist at a libertarian think tank, in case anybody is wondering. Not that there's any surprise in that. Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Who is a laissez-fair economist at a libertarian think tank, in case anybody is wondering. Not that there's any surprise in that. Attacking a person is easier than refuting a paper that gives detailed arguments, data, and references, in case anbody is wondering. Not that there's any surprise that people who know better how to spend other's money would use such a technique. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:49 AM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Who is a laissez-fair economist at a libertarian think tank, in case anybody is wondering. Not that there's any surprise in that. Attacking a person is easier than refuting a paper that gives detailed arguments, data, and references, in case anbody is wondering. Not that there's any surprise that people who know better how to spend other's money would use such a technique. Whoa there, John. You, of all people here, consider calling somebody a laissez-fair economist at a libertarian think tank an attack!? Didn't you post this as an example of an expert who supports your arguments? I looked up who Higgs was because I'd never heard of him and shared that information to add perspective about the source, not attack him. Touchy, aren't we? Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:56 AM, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Whoa there, John. You, of all people here, consider calling somebody a laissez-fair economist at a libertarian think tank an attack!? Actually, I don't. But the relevant fact is, what do you consider it? Why did you not post a similar background note on, for example, James Hamilton? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 12:01 PM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: Actually, I don't. But the relevant fact is, what do you consider it? Why did you not post a similar background note on, for example, James Hamilton? Who? Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On 11/11/2008, at 6:56 AM, Nick Arnett wrote: On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:49 AM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Who is a laissez-fair economist at a libertarian think tank, in case anybody is wondering. Not that there's any surprise in that. Attacking a person is easier than refuting a paper that gives detailed arguments, data, and references, in case anbody is wondering. Given that that's pretty much all you do, I wasn't wondering. That is the reason I stopped reading your posts directly, 'cause you spend your entire time portraying everyone who doesn't agree with you as people who want to take your money to spend it for you, rather than actually discussing the issues. LMAO as a response to entire paragraphs of text? Projection much? Here's some news: just about everyone wants to pay less tax and have less government regulation. Portraying those who have a slightly different threshold to you for the level of tax and regulation they find acceptable as socialists is just dishonest. There may be a couple of far-left wingers in this group (actually, most of the non-Americans are pretty way left by American standards...), but by dividing the whole membership of this mailing list into those that agree with John Williams and Socialists you're missing the chance to actually have interesting discussions on why we choose the way we do what is acceptable to us, and all the nuance of all the positions in between the economic left and right. Even if you've decided that people are wrong already. I'm still wondering who this guy is. Meanwhile, I'm going to get on my communist bicycle and ride to my communist job in a communist law firm. Oh wait, I bought the bike, I get paid to work and it's a private partnership. Dammit, how did I get fooled by these capitalist pigs??? I'd better pay more tax 'cause if I don't I have no right to criticise the free market! Charlie ...who is watching Wimbledon get our arses handed to us by Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup 1st Round... ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, 10 Nov 2008, Nick Arnett wrote: On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 12:01 PM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: Actually, I don't. But the relevant fact is, what do you consider it? Why did you not post a similar background note on, for example, James Hamilton? Who? Nick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hamilton One of them, probably. My guess is James Douglas Hamilton, the econometrician. Unfortunately, his article doesn't say a whole lot. There *is* a link to a blog he contributes to. The entry about the touchdown was pretty cool! Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 1:27 PM, Charlie Bell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Given that that's pretty much all you do, I wasn't wondering. That is the reason I stopped reading your posts directly, 'cause you spend your entire time I bow down to the all-knowing Charlie, who knows pretty much all I do and how I spend my entire time, without directly reading my posts. Hardly worth responding to the rest of your message where you accuse me of pigeonholing people and ignoring arguments. I do wonder why you haven't commented on the Higg's paper, since you appear to favor debate on issues rather than people. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 1:22 PM, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 12:01 PM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: Actually, I don't. But the relevant fact is, what do you consider it? Why did you not post a similar background note on, for example, James Hamilton? Who? I'm not sure if you are joking. You responded to a thread I started with a quote from James Hamilton. If you are serious, I guess you are saying that you read my quote of James Hamilton in that thread, but you did not know who he was and did not look him up. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 2:01 PM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: I'm not sure if you are joking. You responded to a thread I started with a quote from James Hamilton. If you are serious, I guess you are saying that you read my quote of James Hamilton in that thread, but you did not know who he was and did not look him up. I consider it my privilege to do so or not... nobody gets to tell me how to spend my time. ;-) Nick ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 3:18 PM, Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I consider it my privilege to do so or not... nobody gets to tell me how to spend my time. ;-) Of course, you are obviously free to point out affiliations when and if you wish! I only meant to point out that it would make for a more interesting discussion to talk about HIgg's arguments rather than his affiliations. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 4:33 PM, John Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED]wrote: ... it would make for a more interesting discussion to talk about HIgg's arguments rather than his affiliations. True. Nick (who doesn't have much time right now) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
