tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post2090399830866432333..comments2024-01-24T05:45:35.322-05:00Comments on imagining history: the moral and economic imperative of full employmentDaniel MacDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07546752099879983120noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-29552088259128431522010-07-20T11:01:56.055-04:002010-07-20T11:01:56.055-04:00Agreed!Agreed!Daniel MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546752099879983120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-10505198903925085512010-07-19T23:22:30.625-04:002010-07-19T23:22:30.625-04:00I know that Keynes was accused of being a socialis...I know that Keynes was accused of being a socialist while he was alive, but with the passage of time socialism has been conflated with communism in the popular lexicon. (Heck, most people don't even know what socialism is any more.) I have, in fact, seen some right-wing screeds accusing Keynes of being an outright communist.<br /><br />Regardless of what anyone might think of Keynes and whether or not his prescriptions would help things given our current circumstances (I think the debt problem is too large to be effectively addressed through stimulus, although I do think fiscal policy was a better starting point than monetary policy), the one thing I admire about the guy is his tenacity in offering up a practical but non-intuitive solution to the problems facing the world at the time. The man put himself out there to advocate something that, in hindsight, wasn't necessarily all that radical, but which the banksters in particular have successfully painted as the worst possible solution.Tao Jonesinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10041034009270339963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-44193441428244923752010-07-19T14:21:46.499-04:002010-07-19T14:21:46.499-04:00He wasn't viewed as a communist, but some did ...He wasn't viewed as a communist, but some did view him as a socialist.Daniel MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546752099879983120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3291522678539500772.post-8739807583467625042010-07-19T02:56:10.988-04:002010-07-19T02:56:10.988-04:00I actually view this post as a hopeful one in that...I actually view this post as a hopeful one in that it admits the conservative character of Lord Keynes' recommendations. The more common reflexive reaction is to paint the man as a communist and/or an idiot. He was neither.<br /><br />In terms of a new policy, what is the current one? We clearly are not in a Keynesian epoch, we're in the realm of Hayek and Friedman, where all roads load to serfdom. <br /><br />In terms of searching for a new set of policies, I think the first place to start is recognizing that these folks don't want to be "alleviated" of anything, they just want to earn their own way. Give them a chance, and they'll show you what they can do. Treat them like fools in need of charity, and they'll show you what they can do, too, but you may not like it, hence the "Tea Party," the most politically incoherent "movement" of all time.Tao Jonesinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10041034009270339963noreply@blogger.com