[ExI] Is unemployment the future?

[JOSHUA JOB]

Just a quick point about the Depression:
Hoover's policies weren't really a problem (though I don't think they  
helped any). The Federal Reserve turned what would have been an  
average recession into the greatest economic disaster in history, by  
severely and artificially restricting credit. It did the exact  
opposite of what it "should" have done (that is, they made it worse).  
Massive restriction on the money supply reduced bank liquidity,  
causing some failures, which caused runs (which couldn't be dealt with  
because of the low liquidity), and on and on. Ben Bernanke has studied  
the Depression extensively and is considered an expert on the subject,  
and he said at a talk he gave a couple years back "We did it, we're  
sorry, and we won't let it happen again," referring to the Great  
Depression. Laissez-faire didn't have anything really to do with the  
Depression, it was the Fed which created that catastrophe.
On Nov 7, 2009, at 2:46 PM, Michael LaTorra wrote:

> Hi Spike,
> In our system of tripartite government structure, our presidents do  
> not wield the same unchecked power that the Chinese leaders do. The  
> US Congress (mostly lawyers) and the Supereme Court (entirely  
> lawyers) can block, undo, or dillute whatever a president proposes  
> to do.
>
> In the case of President Carter, we had a man who understood the  
> long-term energy problem and tried to take steps to avert it. He had  
> solar panels installed on the roof of the White House.
> "In 1977, Carter convinced the Democratic Congress to create the  
> United States Department of Energy (DoE) with the goal of conserving  
> energy. Carter also signed the National Energy Act (NEA) and the  
> Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA). The purpose of these  
> watershed laws was to encourage energy conservation and the  
> development of national energy resources, including renewables such  
> as wind and solar energy." (from Wikipedia.org)
>
> In the case of President Hoover, we had a man who eschewed the  
> engineer's penchant for design and process control, opting instead  
> for minimal government the time of the Great Depression, when  
> precisely the opposite was needed. Hoover acted too-little like an  
> engineer when he most needed to.
> "President Hoover's stance on the economy was based largely on  
> volunteerism. From before his entry to the presidency, he was a  
> proponent of the concept that public-private cooperation was the way  
> to achieve high long-term growth. Hoover feared that too much  
> intervention or coercion by the government would destroy  
> individuality and self-reliance, which he considered to be important  
> American values. Both his ideals and the economy were put to the  
> test with the onset of The Great Depression. At the outset of the  
> Depression, Hoover claims in his memoirs that he rejected Treasury  
> Secretary Mellon's suggested "leave-it-alone" approach. Critics,  
> such as liberal economist Paul Krugman, who wrote The Conscience of  
> a Liberal, contend that Hoover shared Mellon's laissez-faire  
> viewpoint." (from Wikipedia.org)
> Regards,
> Mike
> On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 12:04 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> ...On Behalf Of Michael LaTorra
> ...
>
>        I'd like to see more scientists and engineers in our  
> government,
> rather than the lawyers and bankers who control the United States of  
> Goldman
> Sachs.
>
>        Regards,
>        Mike LaTorra
>
>
>
> Mike I would agree in principle, but our experience with it so far  
> has been
> mostly bad.  We have had two presidents which could properly be  
> credited
> with a background in engineering and sciences: Herbert Hoover and  
> Jimmy
> Carter.  Both were failures.
>
> spike
>
>
>
>
>
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Joshua Job
nanite1018 at gmail.com



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