According to economist Thomas Worsley, who served in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, President Obama should attend to his stimulus "knitting" - that is the key to economic recovery.
Worsley served as an economist at the treasury department in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Administration, and at age 97 he is now an amateur historian.
Below the fold you can read more of what Thomas Worsley has to say about the current economic calamity and how it compares to the Great Depression.
At Bloomberg.com, Mr. Worsley discusses the current economic problems and the Great Depression.
Below are a few passages from the Bloomberg.com article:
He [Worsley] hopes President Barack Obama won’t repeat Roosevelt’s mistake [of not following John Maynard Keynes' sagacious advice on using federal spending to provide stimulus to the economy]. Bloomberg.com
Worsley, then a 23-year-old economist about to take a job in the Treasury Department, says Roosevelt balked at too much economic stimulus, and even allowed conservative Democrats to talk him into reining in federal outlays in 1937. Bloomberg.com
"That [World War II's massive government spending]vindicated Keynes’s argument," Worsley said during an interview at his brick townhouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where his framed economics degrees from the University of Virginia, including a doctorate, are displayed. "You have to get enough spending going to get private enterprise interested in taking chances on investing." Bloomberg.com
The similarities between the current crisis and the Depression are clear, said Worsley. Speculation and a failing banking system stoked both disasters. The two presidents confronted competing pressures over whether to spend more money or cut taxes. A lack of regulation contributed to the mess.
Folks, I don't think that liberals/progressive are forming a circular firing squad (i.e., criticizing conservative Democrats) as purported by the DCCC; and the wise words from the past provided by Thomas Worsley indicates that we should not allow today's conservative Democrats to undermine President Obama's federal spending plans - plans that are key to our nation's economic recovery.
In the same Bloomberg article, another passage highlights the Obama Administration's thinking on the use of spending and economic recovery:
His counsel for Obama is straightforward: Keep spending until it has an effect -- then start paying attention to the deficit. Long-term, "it’s unsustainable," he warns.
It’s a warning that Obama’s administration is heeding so far. Christina Romer, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told a congressional panel this week that a lesson of the Great Depression is to "beware of cutting back on stimulus too soon."
Just as we discuss the merits and faults of President Obama's policies, we should not hesitate to criticize the actions of the Congress - be they conservative-driven actions or not.
Stay involved - passiveness and reticence are construed as acquiescence.