Comments on: The Great Depression and World War II http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/ Ideas on Liberty Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:28:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Jessie http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-68481 Jessie Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:39:49 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-68481 nnnggggggggggggggoooooooooooooood nnnggggggggggggggoooooooooooooood

]]> By: natalie http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-38869 natalie Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:45:01 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-38869 wow x wow x

]]> By: Military Keynesians Are the Worst Keynesians of All | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-34023 Military Keynesians Are the Worst Keynesians of All | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty Wed, 06 Oct 2010 17:16:38 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-34023 [...] think World War II ended the Great Depression, a claim soundly debunked by Robert Higgs. (See Art Carden’s discussion.) How could the war have ended the Depression? The economy was mostly devoted to making things that [...] [...] think World War II ended the Great Depression, a claim soundly debunked by Robert Higgs. (See Art Carden’s discussion.) How could the war have ended the Depression? The economy was mostly devoted to making things that [...]

]]> By: DB http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-13603 DB Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:13:02 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-13603 J.C., the "Underpants Gnomes" is a South Park reference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpants_Gnomes This is from the Plot section: "The Underpants Gnomes are businessmen of sorts, and they know a lot about corporations, and explain them to the boys in their underground lair. Their business plan is as follows: Phase 1: Collect Underpants Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Profit!" ? is the missing link. In the case of Craig's reference...savings. J.C., the “Underpants Gnomes” is a South Park reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpants_Gnomes

This is from the Plot section:

“The Underpants Gnomes are businessmen of sorts, and they know a lot about corporations, and explain them to the boys in their underground lair.

Their business plan is as follows:
Phase 1: Collect Underpants
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Profit!”

? is the missing link. In the case of Craig’s reference…savings.

]]> By: J.C. La Rue http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-13574 J.C. La Rue Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:25:28 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-13574 What is the underpants gnome conundrum? I did a quick search and found nothing that explained it. I then went to wikipedia and found nothing. Since I have never been a student of economics I have had to teach myself what the heck you guys are talking about. Just figuring out what was meant by 'monetizing the debt' took a good long time. So, what's up with gnomes and underpants? What is the underpants gnome conundrum? I did a quick search and found nothing that explained it. I then went to wikipedia and found nothing. Since I have never been a student of economics I have had to teach myself what the heck you guys are talking about. Just figuring out what was meant by ‘monetizing the debt’ took a good long time. So, what’s up with gnomes and underpants?

]]> By: John http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-13433 John Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:56:17 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-13433 Here is a great treatise on the subject of the Great Depression - it's causes and the reasons for it's end. http://www.mackinac.org/archives/1998/sp1998-01.pdf A summerized version was published in "The Freeman" and is an excellent summary of the longer version. http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/great-myths-of-the-great-depression/ Here is a great treatise on the subject of the Great Depression – it’s causes and the reasons for it’s end.

http://www.mackinac.org/archives/1998/sp1998-01.pdf

A summerized version was published in “The Freeman” and is an excellent summary of the longer version.

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/great-myths-of-the-great-depression/

]]> By: Alan Moran http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-12978 Alan Moran Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:50:08 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-12978 I think Craig is right. No matter how much doubt we have about the valuation of services, it is unquestionably the case that the US standard of living was markedly higher in 1950 than it was 20 years earlier. This is in spite of a much larger share of GDP allocated to defence expenditure. The War created a psychology of saving that, as the article points out, was eroded by government interventions in the 30s. The war effort, though its output was largely wasted, included considerable investment in productive resources that could be switched from tanks to Euclids, military to civilian trucks, fighters to domestic planes and so on. Lower levels of consumption and greater confidence in being able to benefit exclusively from investment, however this came about, must have been crucial. I think Craig is right. No matter how much doubt we have about the valuation of services, it is unquestionably the case that the US standard of living was markedly higher in 1950 than it was 20 years earlier. This is in spite of a much larger share of GDP allocated to defence expenditure. The War created a psychology of saving that, as the article points out, was eroded by government interventions in the 30s.

The war effort, though its output was largely wasted, included considerable investment in productive resources that could be switched from tanks to Euclids, military to civilian trucks, fighters to domestic planes and so on. Lower levels of consumption and greater confidence in being able to benefit exclusively from investment, however this came about, must have been crucial.

]]> By: Craig http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/the-great-depression-and-world-war-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-12104 Craig Sat, 23 May 2009 21:17:09 +0000 http://www.thefreemanonline.org/?p=9388#comment-12104 One unintended result of the War effort was the high savings rate. The newly-conscripted soldiers in Europe and the Pacific, of course, had nowhere to spend their meager wages; and their families and friends at home had little in the way of consumer goods to spend theirs on. As a result, huge sums were plowed into Victory bonds and passbook savings accounts resulting in a vast pool of capital at the war's end. Those savings combined with the above-mentioned regulatory-easing led, I suspect, to the post-war boom. I think the savings might be the missing link between Depression and surprising recovery. Without it, we end up with a variation of the underpants gnome conundrum. One unintended result of the War effort was the high savings rate. The newly-conscripted soldiers in Europe and the Pacific, of course, had nowhere to spend their meager wages; and their families and friends at home had little in the way of consumer goods to spend theirs on. As a result, huge sums were plowed into Victory bonds and passbook savings accounts resulting in a vast pool of capital at the war’s end.

Those savings combined with the above-mentioned regulatory-easing led, I suspect, to the post-war boom. I think the savings might be the missing link between Depression and surprising recovery. Without it, we end up with a variation of the underpants gnome conundrum.

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