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.
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.
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.
"I'm just a young, naïve kitten, but …"
Saturday Night Live's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer wants his running joke back.
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.
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.
Never heard of such a thing.