Posted on 06/17/2009 5:12:51 AM PDT by FromLori
So far, the collapse of the world economy since mid-2008 has been worse than it was in the Great Depression. In fact, one glance at the fall world output, trade, and stock prices really puts the "green shoots" in perspective.
The government policy response to the collapse, however, has been much more aggressive. Thus, we will soon collectively learn whether the economic historians are right that the original Great Depression was caused by "policy errors" after the collapse...or whether, as some suspect, there is simply no way to avoid catastrophe after a financial bubble the size of the one we just had.
Professors Barry Eichengreen (Berkeley) and Kevin O'Rourke (Trinity) have updated their series of charts that compare the progress of this "Depression event" with the Great Depression. The originals can be found here, at Vox. We've arranged them into a quick slideshow below.
START THE SLIDESHOW > Key Points From Vox:
World industrial production continues to track closely the 1930s fall, with no clear signs of ‘green shoots’. World stock markets have rebounded a bit since March, and world trade has stabilised, but these are still following paths far below the ones they followed in the Great Depression. The big-4 EU nations divide north-south; today’s German and British industrial output are closely tracking their rate of fall in the 1930s, while Italy and France are doing much worse. The North Americans (US & Canada) continue to see their industrial output fall approximately in line with what happened in the 1929 crisis, with no clear signs of a turn around. Japan’s industrial output in February was 25 percentage points lower than at the equivalent stage in the Great Depression. There was however a sharp rebound in March. START THE SLIDESHOW >
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Do you remember the pic posted here often of the rabbit with the pancake on his head?
Look at this pic. (4 smiling girls with a pancake on their head or in the air)
http://static.10gen.com/businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=4a3690824b54370b00042b2a
Time to pay the piper!
On a serious note I am always suspicious of professors from Berkley.
(Would judge an economist by his university, but Berkley is Extreme Left)
Barry Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1987.
He is a CEPR Research Fellow, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the convener of the Bellagio Group of academics and economic officials.
In 1997-1998, he was Senior Policy Advisor at the International Monetary Fund. He was awarded the Economic History Association’s Jonathan R.T. Hughes Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2002 and the University of California at Berkeley Social Science Division’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2004.
He is also the recipient of a doctor honoris causa from the American University in Paris.
His research interests are broad-ranging, and include exchange rates and capital flows, the gold standard and the Great Depression; European economics, Asian integration and development with a focus on exchange rates and financial markets, the impact of China on the international economic and financial system, and IMF policy, past, present and future.
lol had not seen that.
“The government policy response to the collapse, however, has been much more aggressive.”
Well, we don’t have the Smoot-Hawley tariff this time around, which is a plus.
“Thus, we will soon collectively learn whether the economic historians are right that the original Great Depression was caused by “policy errors” after the collapse...or whether, as some suspect, there is simply no way to avoid catastrophe after a financial bubble the size of the one we just had.”
No, we won’t. Empirical evidence will never settle economic questions. If they did, things like the world’s failure to get out of the Great Depression and the collapse of the Soviet Empire would have put a dent in socialists’ minds by now.
Worst Economy Since Hoover!
Now where have I heard that before?
you really have a thing for charts!
Thanks for posting this
“World War II Did Not End the Great Depression”
Yes, I know. The best short rebuttal for this absolutely ridiculous claim—now inexplicably (aside from the fact that academic historians know jack about economics, which I guess is explaination enough) part of standard history—goes something like this: “Hey, if the war pulled is out, why don’t we just start a war every time there’s a downturn?” Becuase wars are a big waste of money, that’s why.
Funny thing is, most leftist historians agree that “The Great War” was costly and led to recession, pointing to our massive outlay of credit to foreign governments that was hardly remitted. Yet they can’t wrap their heads around how the next war, which cost a whole lot more, might have done some damage.
One of the comments:
The economy is also getting a bit better. We are bullish on America; read more detail on our post at Sovestor.com titled “United States Economy Likely To Recover & Emerge Stronger Than Before”
I do not mean too it just happens that way and one of these days I will get around to being able to post them.
you have mail
I must have missed something I am not offended lol
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