The Guardian has an opinion piece by Joseph Stiglitz that is simmering with rage and resentment. Stiglitz, perhaps a bit too early, is relishing the return of Keynesian thinking to government. But it is clear he nurses more than a few bitter feelings about being left out of the circles of power and influence (and this comes from a Nobel laureate!):
For those of us who always claimed some connection to the Keynesian tradition, this is a moment of triumph, after having been left in the wilderness, almost shunned, for more than three decades. At one level, what is happening now is a triumph of reason and evidence over ideology and interests.
Economic theory has long explained why unfettered markets were not self-correcting, why regulation was needed, why there was an important role for government to play in the economy. But many, especially people working in the financial markets, pushed a type of “market fundamentalism”. The misguided policies that resulted – pushed by, among others, some members of President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team – had earlier inflicted enormous costs on developing countries. The moment of enlightenment came only when those policies also began inflicting costs on the US and other advanced industrial countries.
Stiglitz of course is a world famous economist who Obama continues to ignore. Can the goofballs who created the present depression cure it? Yes, you read that correctly, "the present depression." The goofballs cannot cure the depression. It will play out. There is a sudden explosion of "how to survive a depression" articles. Peacenik will post some of these periodically. Good luck to all. Are the Leafs playing tonight?
