we’re studying the great depression in kittengarten. it’s very interesting!
did you know that the US federal government was only 2% of GDP under calvin coolidge and that washington DC was a sleepy little backwater with few powers and little influence on localities?
because it was!
but then hoover and FDR came in and grew it to over 40%! and they took all kinds of emergency powers to “fix the crisis” that only made the crisis 10 times worse! so then they took more powers!
and the really weird part is that even though they said they would give those powers back, they never did and the federal budget stayed 10X as big as it used to be from then on!
the bad kitty told me:
“i’ll bet if you look around, you can find another example of government taking reckless, unprecedented actions that made a minor crisis into a major one and using it as a pretext to grab new powers they never plan to give back.”
but i’m not very good at being cynical.
can you guys help me?
have you maybe seen anything like that going on lately?
The economic historian Robert Higgs calls this the Ratchet Effect. From mises.org "During a crisis, the size and scope of government grow tremendously. After the crisis subsides, government shrinks, but not to the precrisis level. In consequence, leviathan expands over the decades, leaping from one crisis to the next."
The financial markets were in trouble the fall before covid. We were injecting massive (at that time) amounts of money into the system. Covid gave us the excuse to paper over all the problems (once again) and shovel money to the politically connected.
the only thing scares the covidian economic trooper more than tapering the bond suction is not throwing around a few trillion more in fiscal squandering.
Amazing the financial crisis wasn't the Big Opportunity the way covid apparently is. I guess these things are only useful if it entails shitting down small business.
Walter Benjamin still knew it also 100 years ago. So I would assume there is nothing really new about using crises as demagogic vehicles bringing their citizens to pay and fight against any welcome enemy. [ https://harpers.org/2010/05/benjamin-history-and-the-state-of-exception/ ]. Not to mention the sponsoring and promotion of the nazis by the german military industrial complex and bought media. The bought will always sell you to the buyers!
Let me see, apart from dietary "guidelines"? Umm no, don't know what you're meowing about. My curfew is quite comfy and those anti-maskers deserve their criminal records.
Its was the fed, the treasury, fiscal , monetary and trade policy… the boom in 1920s was made greater than it would have been bc of central policy in washington. When the bust came , the fools couldnt just leave it alone and let the market correct like in 1921
The downturn was made deeper and longer and only ended AFTER WW2….
What about freeways and bridges? A toll road for every town? It doesn't seem so simple. Farming practices were destructive to the land and some still are. Small businesses, small farms: they're said to be better. Big govt. can support permaculture and regenerative farming instead of subsidizing agri-business that tills and poisons the land and its critters.
the federal highway system was built on the emerging framework of a private one that would have been built anyway and planned and executed badly without regard to utility or proper mapping. worse, it has become an 80 year boondoggle of waste and failure to adapt. it's falling apart, has failed to keep up with need, has not innovated, or adapted to technology. it costs twice what it should to run for half the utility and there is no cost/benefit analysis or pareto optimality in the investment around it or deciding what to fix, expand, or remove. it's building based on congressional earmarks for pals, not sound planning or economic reasons.
it's literally the classic example of something everyone thinks was a good and useful government program but that what was, in reality, a complete debacle and would have been FAR better left in private hands. it's worse even than the space program.
the federal government literally destroyed farming, failed to assign or even establish useful water rights, paid for bad crop choices, and distorted production through and endless gravy train of subsidy, mandate, loans, insurance, and preferencing that has been one of the greatest crony capitalism carnivals in american history.
Yes! Explain to me how and why we have to pay tolls for roads we already paying taxes for. I have no problem with toll roads, but then give me my tax money back.
I live in northern NJ. Since they have a complelelt electronic toll system and i pay exhorbitant nj taxes ( not for long cause im leaving) WHY cant the toll system ID my car as a NJ vehicle and i dont have to pay tolls in nj. The point of the I95 tolls in NJ is that there are many trucks and cars that use the NJ turnpike just to travel through NJ. Ok these vehicles could be charged something but if im a resident of NJ and pay taxes on everything here why do
i have to pay tolls on Nj roads?
Plus the roads in the more congested parts of NJ are in terrible shape
I was recently out in south dakota, the federal highways there are in great shape.
The whole federal higway system at this point is a giant boondoggle
Liberals and progressives complain about too many cars and suburban sprawl. Well if it wasnt for taxpayer funded highways, there might be fewer cars and more viable mass transit options like interstate trains. Also a real estate developer instead of having the roads to their land paid for by the government, they would have to bear the costs and there would have been less sprawl
I know the auto industry got people invested in having newfangled personal toys and resulted in tracks removed or paved over and trains being diverted away from city centers. But I don't see how we can suddenly switch gears.
Govt workers can do a bad job without getting fired. Unions can be that way too -- corrupt, with too much money at the top. Private businesses aren't necessarily any better. It depends on the leadership.
We have a culture of work being separate from the rest of our lives. I've seen it in some of the work crews where I live, where entire blocks are being shut down for sewer and water line replacement. One private company was excellent at organizing the signage and making sure neighbors could drive their cars out of underground garages, etc. Their laborers of color were skilled with heavy equipment and friendly, not leery of making eye contact. It was easy to see they were raised differently from the white workers. The mainstream white culture isn't one of openness. Emotions are scary things that require professional therapy.
Anyway, the next crew that came in was entirely different. One guy seemed to have to direct every little thing, instead of letting workers take the initiative. I realize I don't know the back-story. I also don't trust our mainstream white culture (I'm white, by the way) to understand the nuances that concern me. Good and bad workers, effective or incompetent, are what we've got. I want people in charge to encourage intelligence and a willingness to work hard, whether they're govt or union workers or hired as free lancers.
This is a perfect example of being misunderstood. Where I live, I've been accused of racism because I treat everyone the same. Colorblind is what I call it. - Brought up to believe that prejudice is an error. - Not too mindful about how I phrase remarks to individuals who might or might not be triggered due to their experience. And here, it's also inappropriate to even refer to race? No, it's not about "my people," which is a limited concept.
There was an excellent S. African sci-fi movie some years ago about aliens becoming subject to apartheid. Have any of you seen it?
Once again, why are you bringing race into this discussion? What do your experiences with road crews or a sci-fi movie have to do with government overreach and failures?
Maybe, but medicine is more of a science than economics, and reality has a better chance of asserting itself. COVID is also a world wide phenomenon, and few countries are as hysterical as the USA.
Fortunately, and ironically, the propaganda has significantly damaged the propaganda machine. Families are turning in desperation to alternatives to the government school system.
I'm not so pessimistic about that. The generations that lived through the Great Depression had far less media bandwidth than we do now. Contrary opinions and embarrassing facts were harder to come by. If I understand correctly, almost nobody in those days knew that Roosevelt used a wheelchair because of polio. Back then, California governor Gavin Newsom could presumably have kept a lid on his visit to the French Laundry, but not now. Today's media spread fear and anger more quickly in the short term, but they also spread truth more widely in the medium and long term.
For another thing, the disruption of the government school system has significantly weakened the main source of big-government propaganda. Doesn't it make you smile when evil is self-defeatingly stupid?
Nah man, it's all good now. Anyway, gotta go to the store...wait, where is my mask and my vaccine passport?
You definitely are getting a great education at the gato school for gifted kittens.
The economic historian Robert Higgs calls this the Ratchet Effect. From mises.org "During a crisis, the size and scope of government grow tremendously. After the crisis subsides, government shrinks, but not to the precrisis level. In consequence, leviathan expands over the decades, leaping from one crisis to the next."
http://thephilosophicalsalon.com/a-self-fulfilling-prophecy-systemic-collapse-and-pandemic-simulation/
The financial markets were in trouble the fall before covid. We were injecting massive (at that time) amounts of money into the system. Covid gave us the excuse to paper over all the problems (once again) and shovel money to the politically connected.
a little fed buying from sep 2019 ..... but nothing like after apr 2021
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WALCL
the only thing scares the covidian economic trooper more than tapering the bond suction is not throwing around a few trillion more in fiscal squandering.
someday china will let the us dollar float.
think weimargermany!
"I'm just a young, naïve kitten, but …"
Saturday Night Live's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer wants his running joke back.
i'm sorry mr brian, but i am just a kitten and much too young to be allowed to stay up to watch SNL...
so i do not really get your joke.
Mm-hmm. That's what your prehistoric ancestor, el diente de sable descongelado, would say.
Check out the forgotten depression of 1920-21.
https://mises.org/library/forgotten-depression-1920
The Great Depression 2.0: The Grapes of Wrath: The Grapening.
2021 federal budget is $6 trillion. Deficit is $2.3 trillion for the same period. $0.44 is printed into existence.
Amazing the financial crisis wasn't the Big Opportunity the way covid apparently is. I guess these things are only useful if it entails shitting down small business.
Seems like Big Gevernment always morphs into even Bigger Government. Maybe it's time the people took those powers back.
Walter Benjamin still knew it also 100 years ago. So I would assume there is nothing really new about using crises as demagogic vehicles bringing their citizens to pay and fight against any welcome enemy. [ https://harpers.org/2010/05/benjamin-history-and-the-state-of-exception/ ]. Not to mention the sponsoring and promotion of the nazis by the german military industrial complex and bought media. The bought will always sell you to the buyers!
I think there was some crisis about the post office being short of money last year. Not noticed anything else.
Let me see, apart from dietary "guidelines"? Umm no, don't know what you're meowing about. My curfew is quite comfy and those anti-maskers deserve their criminal records.
PS. Hoping they're going to ban crop tops next, it's bad for my mental health.
Its was the fed, the treasury, fiscal , monetary and trade policy… the boom in 1920s was made greater than it would have been bc of central policy in washington. When the bust came , the fools couldnt just leave it alone and let the market correct like in 1921
The downturn was made deeper and longer and only ended AFTER WW2….
16 YEARS… this is what we are facing again
https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Great-Depression-Murray-Rothbard/dp/1607960656/ref=nodl_
What about freeways and bridges? A toll road for every town? It doesn't seem so simple. Farming practices were destructive to the land and some still are. Small businesses, small farms: they're said to be better. Big govt. can support permaculture and regenerative farming instead of subsidizing agri-business that tills and poisons the land and its critters.
tropes all.
the federal highway system was built on the emerging framework of a private one that would have been built anyway and planned and executed badly without regard to utility or proper mapping. worse, it has become an 80 year boondoggle of waste and failure to adapt. it's falling apart, has failed to keep up with need, has not innovated, or adapted to technology. it costs twice what it should to run for half the utility and there is no cost/benefit analysis or pareto optimality in the investment around it or deciding what to fix, expand, or remove. it's building based on congressional earmarks for pals, not sound planning or economic reasons.
it's literally the classic example of something everyone thinks was a good and useful government program but that what was, in reality, a complete debacle and would have been FAR better left in private hands. it's worse even than the space program.
the federal government literally destroyed farming, failed to assign or even establish useful water rights, paid for bad crop choices, and distorted production through and endless gravy train of subsidy, mandate, loans, insurance, and preferencing that has been one of the greatest crony capitalism carnivals in american history.
and it's still going on today. bigly.
https://justthenews.com/accountability/waste-fraud-and-abuse/sunusda-announces-racial-preferences-new-climate-smart
i fear you're mistaking grievous long term harm with a good PR team for useful federal programs (of which there are nearly none).
If politicians are not known for their honesty and integrity, why do people automatically trust the laws and institutions they create?
The other day, my car almost disappeared in a canyon in one of those lovely government-funded roads. Bring in those private hands, I say.
ah, pothole rico, la isla de cracked axle.
And many of those free government roads are no longer free. Take a drive along I-95.
Yes! Explain to me how and why we have to pay tolls for roads we already paying taxes for. I have no problem with toll roads, but then give me my tax money back.
I live in northern NJ. Since they have a complelelt electronic toll system and i pay exhorbitant nj taxes ( not for long cause im leaving) WHY cant the toll system ID my car as a NJ vehicle and i dont have to pay tolls in nj. The point of the I95 tolls in NJ is that there are many trucks and cars that use the NJ turnpike just to travel through NJ. Ok these vehicles could be charged something but if im a resident of NJ and pay taxes on everything here why do
i have to pay tolls on Nj roads?
Plus the roads in the more congested parts of NJ are in terrible shape
I was recently out in south dakota, the federal highways there are in great shape.
The whole federal higway system at this point is a giant boondoggle
Liberals and progressives complain about too many cars and suburban sprawl. Well if it wasnt for taxpayer funded highways, there might be fewer cars and more viable mass transit options like interstate trains. Also a real estate developer instead of having the roads to their land paid for by the government, they would have to bear the costs and there would have been less sprawl
So proud of u gato!
I hear you. I agree that the govt is too big.
I know the auto industry got people invested in having newfangled personal toys and resulted in tracks removed or paved over and trains being diverted away from city centers. But I don't see how we can suddenly switch gears.
Govt workers can do a bad job without getting fired. Unions can be that way too -- corrupt, with too much money at the top. Private businesses aren't necessarily any better. It depends on the leadership.
We have a culture of work being separate from the rest of our lives. I've seen it in some of the work crews where I live, where entire blocks are being shut down for sewer and water line replacement. One private company was excellent at organizing the signage and making sure neighbors could drive their cars out of underground garages, etc. Their laborers of color were skilled with heavy equipment and friendly, not leery of making eye contact. It was easy to see they were raised differently from the white workers. The mainstream white culture isn't one of openness. Emotions are scary things that require professional therapy.
Anyway, the next crew that came in was entirely different. One guy seemed to have to direct every little thing, instead of letting workers take the initiative. I realize I don't know the back-story. I also don't trust our mainstream white culture (I'm white, by the way) to understand the nuances that concern me. Good and bad workers, effective or incompetent, are what we've got. I want people in charge to encourage intelligence and a willingness to work hard, whether they're govt or union workers or hired as free lancers.
The thing about private and union incompetence -- they pay for it directly.
With government incompetence, we ALL pay for it because they just shovel more money into the giant money pit.
Seriously. WTH? How did you manage to bring race into this discussion?
Good people, good workers, bad people, and bad workers come from all races, religions, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Sounds like you have problems with "your people". Get help.
Thanks, was just preparing to say something quite similar.
This is a perfect example of being misunderstood. Where I live, I've been accused of racism because I treat everyone the same. Colorblind is what I call it. - Brought up to believe that prejudice is an error. - Not too mindful about how I phrase remarks to individuals who might or might not be triggered due to their experience. And here, it's also inappropriate to even refer to race? No, it's not about "my people," which is a limited concept.
There was an excellent S. African sci-fi movie some years ago about aliens becoming subject to apartheid. Have any of you seen it?
Once again, why are you bringing race into this discussion? What do your experiences with road crews or a sci-fi movie have to do with government overreach and failures?
I just tried to find the simple guidelines I agreed to. I didn't take a screenshot. Maybe "stick to the point" was in there.
El gato malo and all: If branching out is not approved behavior, I apologize. --Jean
Tropes. Everything u list could be done better and more efficiently by private interests
Never heard of such a thing.
Maybe, but medicine is more of a science than economics, and reality has a better chance of asserting itself. COVID is also a world wide phenomenon, and few countries are as hysterical as the USA.
but you have to beat the propaganda machine.....
Fortunately, and ironically, the propaganda has significantly damaged the propaganda machine. Families are turning in desperation to alternatives to the government school system.
The propaganda is popular because they are basically paying people with printed money to support it. Not sure how that has sustainable.
I'm not so pessimistic about that. The generations that lived through the Great Depression had far less media bandwidth than we do now. Contrary opinions and embarrassing facts were harder to come by. If I understand correctly, almost nobody in those days knew that Roosevelt used a wheelchair because of polio. Back then, California governor Gavin Newsom could presumably have kept a lid on his visit to the French Laundry, but not now. Today's media spread fear and anger more quickly in the short term, but they also spread truth more widely in the medium and long term.
For another thing, the disruption of the government school system has significantly weakened the main source of big-government propaganda. Doesn't it make you smile when evil is self-defeatingly stupid?