Yes the American engineer and worker is highly resourceful and industrious and when focused (and unencumbered from a great war on her own shores) is capable of immense achievements. But we were not a superpower then. It was the economic collapse of much of the world following WW2 that allowed the 20th century concept of the superpower to emerge.
One can not simply dismiss government intervention wholesale, it was government intervention in the 1930’s that laid the groundwork for the US to prosper after the war. And it wasn’t until the late 70’s when this system began to be dismantled that we entered the bubble cycle we now find ourselves in. Each subsequent recession since then has been longer and worse than the one proceeding it while, concurrently, financial instruments have become more complex and government regulation weakened.
I’m for intelligent regulation written by qualified, competent professionals and equal balance between the influence of industry, government, and consumers in the enforcement and oversight of this regulation. Professionals must feel the pain that is caused by their criminal mismanagement of risk.
However, as livius just said, let’s suspend this 60 year old digression in favor of more topical issues.
I suppose there are emergencies when government intervention can be positive. Spain, after its Civil War (which should really be referred to as Attempted Communist Takeover), instituted a system that was half-state, half-private, and which didn’t give Spain great growth but at least enabled the population to survive.
Germany got all sorts of benefits after WWII, and even the Russians were beloved of most of the US intellectual elite, but Spain was an outcast because Franco had actually defeated Marxism in his country. Leftist US intellectuals rallied together to punish Spain and for many years Spain was excluded from US generosity. There was genuine hunger and deprivation in Spain, and Franco instituted a number of government policies that would one day come back to bite Spain after the Socialists took over upon his death...although perhaps these policies were necessary at that time.
I am not that familiar with Greece, and I have always wondered at the origins of this hard-core socialism. Also, I wonder if the roots of the problems of these three southern countries (Greece, Spain and Italy) actually go back to WWII and the situation after it.