?We are spending more money than we have ever spent before,
and it does not work. ... I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see
people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made
good on our promises. ... I say after eight years of this administration we
have just as much unemployment as when we started ... and an enormous debt, to
boot."
No, it is not a contemporary conservative complaining that
Keynesian economics will not work. It was the Treasury Secretary to
Roosevelt in his testimony to Congress in May 1939;TEN YEARS AFTER THE
DEPRESSION BEGAN. [Courtesy to Yelnick for recalling this testimony
before Congress.]
Oh, gosh, I thought Roosevelt got credit for ending the
Great Depression by his great Keynesian spending initiatives. I guess
his own Treasury Secretary didn?t believe the depression was over in
1939. Keynesian economics, fiscal and monetary spending, didn?t work in
10 years back then? But it?ll work this time? And we?re already
seeing the ?green shoots? of the new $3T deficit spending working?..in just 2
months?
And now we?ve yet to start paying for Roosevelt?s biggest
legacy; Social Security and the related $50T unfunded liability to pay soon to
retire SS recipients. The Fed?s leveraging its balance sheet by $2T was
chump change. What the US owes China and Japan together is chump
change. Social Security and Medicare are the $2T gorillas in the
corner. If anyone thinks they?ll cash out their SS, well they need to
have been collecting it for the last 15 years already. If you haven?t
started collecting yet, well, don?t give up your day job any time soon; at
least not until you?re about 90.