Great Depression
So a lot of talking heads are wondering if this economic climate is turning into a depression. And once people get on the whole depression kick, it's time to talk about FDR. So we get some folks saying "The New Deal got us out of the depression" (generally these tend to be liberal slanting voices). And in typical we-have-to-argue-about-SOMETHING punditry the response is "No, World War II got us out of the depression".
The idea of Wars improving the economy needs a little re-examination in light of the past 50 years. I've heard people banter this about - Wars increase domestic spending and therefor improve the economy, yada yada. And of course you can go to your history book and start saying Wars have helped older ecnomies too! I mean, Rome went to war with all sorts of people and ended up richer!
But that isn't entirely true. Rome re-allocated the wealth from foreign lands back to Rome. And when Rome started having to fight invading Germanic tribes, well, they didn't really have as much STUFF to steal when you beat them, so funding became a real issue.
World War II may have been a catalyst to the industrial boom in this country, but the "War" part was just the REASON for the increased industrial demand. The DEMAND is what brought us out of the depression. The creation of jobs with the New Deal gave consumers money to spend, which increased demand. Which caused growth. (yeah I'm over simpling, because I hope haddmatter will decide he can argue with me which is the only way he'll post a comment admitting he read this far).
Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I and Iraq II the revenge of junior didn't help our economy at all. So lets put a lid on the whole Wars help the economy line. I know people want to take the credit away from FDR and his social programs and put it into ANYTHING that makes the recovery from the depression something other than "social programs" or "government spending". If anything WWII was 9/11, it allowed a president to ram through legislation. You can do that for good effect as well as bad, go figure.
So bring on the government projects for the good of the country that increase jobs. And for christ sakes don't give the auto companies a DIME when they are building manufacturing plants in other countries. Dumping funding into companies that take the money outside of the country will not turn around our local economy, that's just obvious.
The idea of Wars improving the economy needs a little re-examination in light of the past 50 years. I've heard people banter this about - Wars increase domestic spending and therefor improve the economy, yada yada. And of course you can go to your history book and start saying Wars have helped older ecnomies too! I mean, Rome went to war with all sorts of people and ended up richer!
But that isn't entirely true. Rome re-allocated the wealth from foreign lands back to Rome. And when Rome started having to fight invading Germanic tribes, well, they didn't really have as much STUFF to steal when you beat them, so funding became a real issue.
World War II may have been a catalyst to the industrial boom in this country, but the "War" part was just the REASON for the increased industrial demand. The DEMAND is what brought us out of the depression. The creation of jobs with the New Deal gave consumers money to spend, which increased demand. Which caused growth. (yeah I'm over simpling, because I hope haddmatter will decide he can argue with me which is the only way he'll post a comment admitting he read this far).
Korea, Vietnam, Iraq I and Iraq II the revenge of junior didn't help our economy at all. So lets put a lid on the whole Wars help the economy line. I know people want to take the credit away from FDR and his social programs and put it into ANYTHING that makes the recovery from the depression something other than "social programs" or "government spending". If anything WWII was 9/11, it allowed a president to ram through legislation. You can do that for good effect as well as bad, go figure.
So bring on the government projects for the good of the country that increase jobs. And for christ sakes don't give the auto companies a DIME when they are building manufacturing plants in other countries. Dumping funding into companies that take the money outside of the country will not turn around our local economy, that's just obvious.