Obawan hasn’t even been sworn in and the MSM has already declared that he’s the greatest president in history.
Good article.
More factual data:
FDR’s policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx
“After scrutinizing Roosevelt’s record for four years, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years.
“Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump,” said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA’s Department of Economics. “We found that a relapse isn’t likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies.”
In an article in the August issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Ohanian and Cole blame specific anti-competition and pro-labor measures that Roosevelt promoted and signed into law June 16, 1933.”
Note that Obama is planning to institute exactly the measures that FRD introduced, which proplonged the depression.
As if to add insult to injury, I feel certain that not only will Obamaite make work programs have the same dilatorious effect on the economy that FDR’s did, but they won’t give us any beautiful public buildings: WPA art deco, what I like to call ‘American fascist architecture’, was the last gasp of beautiful American architecture. Anything now will be Bauhaus at best.
Right, like Freidman mentioned the other day where an “immigrant” in California who couldn’t speak English, earning $14,000 a year qualified to buy a $720,000 home.
After reading Jonah Goldberg’s book “Liberal Fascism” I realized just how similar Obama may very well be to not only FDR but also Woodrow Wilson (read: the sedition act) FDR and Wilson proudly installed fascist policies. In fact, Hitler and Mussolini themselves wrote communications to FDR after his inauguration about how impressed they were with his socialistic ideas.
There are at least 5 reasons why Obama will deepen the depression:
(1) President Obama will institute policies that will prevent wages from dropping to market rates. This is exactly what Herbert Hoover and his successor Franklin Roosevelt did in the 1930’s. Such policies by Hoover and Roosevelt dramatically increased the unemployment rate. By preventing wages from adjusting to market forces during the Depression, businesses were unable to afford to keep people employed. As a result, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 25%. Barack Obama is of the same ilk, and he will not be able to resist policies that keep wages, and thus, unemployment higher than the free market would dictate. In this cycle, an unemployment rate between 10 and 15 percent is a very real possibility.
(2) He will raise capital gains taxes. We are in a period when capital is desperately hard to come by. Great American companies are begging our own government and foreign sources for capital. Raising the cost of capital by raising the capital gains tax rate is exactly the opposite of what we ought to do. It will choke off capital and deepen the depression. In addition, every notch upward in the capital gains tax rate will bring a notch downward in the stock market. Every notch downward in stocks will add more fear and will keep Americans from spending to support the economy.
(3) Obama and his pals in Congress will raise taxes not only on the upper echelon but also on the middle class. He has promised free health care, free college, free child care, free this and free that. Guess what. There is no free lunch. The working class will be hit with higher taxes along with the employer class. According to the National Taxpayers Union, Obama’s fiscal agenda will cost $344 billion per year. This agenda will force higher taxes on everyone. Herbert Hoover dramatically raised taxes in 1932 during the Depression. Economists now recognize this as perhaps the biggest tax blunder in American history. This sucked money out of the productive economy and sent the economy into a death spiral. The handwriting is on the wall; Obama will repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression.
(4) Obama’s policies will skyrocket the federal deficit. It is clear that his spending priorities far outweigh his revenue enhancements. Under normal circumstances, our economy can handle more debt during a recession. But in a period of asset deflation and credit contraction which began when debt was already too high, to balloon the deficit further is to risk the very foundation of our economy. His spending policies will expand the already incredible deficits created by the Bush TARP program. The risk is worldwide loss of confidence in the US government and its debt and a potential collapse of the bond market.
(5) Obama is committed to spending huge amounts of money on uneconomic ventures—such as the auto industry and solar energy. The American auto industry is hopelessly uncompetitive against the Japanese manufacturers.
In large measure because of the monopolistic power of labor unions, American manufacturers suffer a $1500 per car cost disadvantage. Throwing more money at the problem will not help unless the unions capitulate—an unlikely event. Government loans to the auto industry will never be paid back. It is a black hole. As for solar energy, it will account for only around 5% of the U. S. energy needs by 2020. And it is multiples more expensive per kilowatt hour. Every dollar spent by the government to support this industry, like other government wasteful spending, is money down a rat hole. And no doubt, Obama will find many other uneconomic projects to support.
These things will be explained to President Obama. But he will reject them because of his ideology. Obama is a left-wing ideologue. Other Democrat presidents have been fairly utilitarian. But not this man.
Nothing will stop Obama from pushing leftist/socialist economic policies on our country. And the results will be disastrous.
Mr. Meek can be reached by email at cmeek01@msn.com.
BTTT & Happy Thanksgiving!
The world of the '30's is not the world of today. The big thing in using FDR is to justify handouts.
Good summary......as P.J. O’Rourke said at a 93 Gopac speech on DEMONRATS and the Impeached, treasonous, bent-crank violent rapist;
They are dung beatles in legislation, legislators in the bed-chamber, Chamber-maids on the battlefield, and Field-marshalls in the war against everything reasonable and decent.
Such like has not been seen in the Executive branch since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was wheeled up the disabled access ramps to the gates of HELL.
the reason why WW2 ‘worked’ has to do with the Laffer curve. Usually you can’t raise taxes and expect maximum revenue. People decide they might as well just work less or try to shelter their income. But in the case of a total war, everyone does their patriotic duty to work for the defense of the country even with maximum tax rates.
On the other hand, if it is for an unpopular war such as Vietnam, it won’t work.
those who think socialism has always failed do not understand its purpose.
Surely many who voted for Obama saw him as potentially the new FDR, the man to lead us out of hard economic times. But they've been misled, for even FDR wasn't FDR. He is a quasi-mythical creature who not only didn't end the Great Depression but probably greatly prolonged the nation's economic agony with his New Deal programs and a menagerie of other foolish measures.Sure, but at least FDR said that American Jews and Catholics are here "by suffrance". Thanks neverdem.