Posted on 09/03/2011 9:49:49 AM PDT by smokingfrog
Now that we are at Labor Day — meaning the start of the year of presidential campaigning — let us review the five big errors that made the Great Depression. These were spelled out three years ago in a column by our Amity Shlaes. It was issued in the Washington Post under the headline “Five Ways to Wreck a Recovery.” Her lessons are drawn from her seminal history of the catastrophe of the 1930s, “The Forgotten Man.” Her list remains, in our view, one of the most prescient op-ed pieces to herald President Obama’s accession.
The tragedy of Mr. Obama’s presidency is that he has committed nearly every one of the errors that extended the Great Depression. The first was, as Miss Shlaes put it, “giving in to protectionism,” a blunder confected on the even of the Great Depression by three Republicans, Willis Hawley, a congressman from Oregon, Reed Smoot, a senator of Utah, and President Hoover. They ignored the warnings of more than a thousand economists who issued an open letter warning that duties would “raise the cost of living and injure the great majority of our citizens.”
President Obama hasn’t done anything as egregious as the Smoot-Hawley tariff, but neither has he been — at a time when he should have been — a tribune of free trade. A captive of labor, he failed to take the lead in respect of Columbia, South Korea, and Panama. He feigns to fight for free trade by blaming the Republicans; the Times had a piece on the feud a few days ago. Even worse and more broadly, he has run a weak-dollar campaign in an effort to boost our exports, *snip*
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
I think the New York Sun might have discovered a copy of Presdent Obama’s “plan” that he’ll announce in his speech on Thursday.
On the news this morning they said his speech wouldn’t have specifics, or at least ‘few’ specifics. In other words, he’s going to blame the GOP for not cooperating with his agenda.
When will people stop listening to that yahoo?!
Tragedy my eye. It was intentional on his part.
A good read, and highly recommended.
The fact that BHO is incompetent is a blessing.
Imagine the damage he would do if he was competent
It is written by two UCLA economist.
I wouldn't cleave too tightly to the comparison; Hoover raised taxes...Bush lowered them.
And for these "few specifics" he insists on a joint session of Congress.
He has done everything possible to destroy the US economy and jobs....maybe he is trying to pay back America because of what President Reagan did to destroy the Soviet Union. Guess him and his commie friends have been saying PAYBACK TIME.
One of Bush II’s first acts was to install import restrictions to protect the domestic steel industry. Comparing Bush to Hoover runs closer than you might think.
One of Bush II’s first acts was to install import restrictions to protect the domestic steel industry. Then, TARP was Bush’s idea. One of the most grievous things I heard come out of his mouth was “The free market has failed.” Comparing Bush to Hoover runs closer than you might think.
Your link does not go to any content. Can you repair that and repost?
(You had an extra pair of quote marks in your html link)
Or because America is so white. Or so infidel.
Barack Obama's hatred of this country has multiple vector axes, but they all point at us. Single cause, single motive, single operator -- many avenues of attack speak of a powerful, towering hatred.
Guess he's displaced his hate for his father and Frank Marshall Davis onto us typical white people instead.
Remember, he told us in his ghostwritten bio that he chose to identify as "black" rather than "African" or "multiracial" or "colored" (what people of mixed race are called in South Africa and other societies). He chose it ....... he must have had something in mind.
I didn't say they were the SAME actions, just that they were equally misguided. Bush's mistake was with the deficit funded rescue of the banks with the "too big to fail" BS. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. He should have let true capitalism take its course, and let those who made mistakes suffer from them. Instead, "they" (i.e. "quantitative easing" recipients) make out like bandits, and everybody ELSE suffers.
As a result, no one was able to get a loan to start a business, buy a house...spending froze. No credit was available and everyone suffered.
Bush's action was in direct contrast to what they did during the depression.
And for the time period, exactly the wrong thing to do. Today's banking system has a lot more safeguards in place than in Hoover's day. Bush should have simply let those safeguards work.
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