[raisetheroof]

While I agree with Will's overall assessment, this part is wrong: "In 1939, after a decade of frantic federal spending -- President Herbert Hoover...".

Hoover was president only until 1933. FDR was president in 1939.

[dalereed]

Quit printing funny money and get the depression under way!!!!

[ari-freedom]

well they will say they won’t raise the top tax rate to 63%. Just spend a lot of money.

[Eric Blair 2084]

The New Deal just prolonged the Depression.

WWII got us out of it.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Other than George Will, I would like to here from Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell on the issues.

[Jack Black]

ping

[DiogenesLaertius]

Actually the depression is a bit complicated. Raising taxes and cutting off trade definitely prolonged the depression, but few people understand the importance of pyschology.

The generation that came out of the great depression was basically a nation of spendthrifts. Economic risk-taking was way down and entrepeneurship was at abysmally low levels. Victory in WWII restored confidence, launched the baby boom, and created a huge boom in entrepeneurship and spending.

Another recent case of where pyschology matters is in Japan where the government has done everything possible to try and keep the economy going strong. Japanese people simply are too risk averse and spend too little and are not very entrepeneurial as well.

When government grows, it crowds out civic society, and substitutes the decisions previously made by consumers and job-creators by those of the government. George Will is right, the spending of the Democratic congress is going to piss off the fiscally conservative nature of America and do little in the way of keeping our economy afloat. What remains to be seen is if the democrats will use that spending to create enough dependent interest groups so that they have a permanent majority and drag us down into the terrible mediocrity of Europe.

I pray to god that does not happen.

Case-in-point, look at Japan. From being a country that was going to overtake us by now they’ve had over a decade of lost growth. What happened? The Japanese consumer simply does not spend enough

[cherry]

shut up George.......you pushed zero on us by demeaning Gov. Palin.....

I personally don't give a damn about you think anymore...

[neverdem]

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