When I began this blog in 2001, I was appalled by President Bush's headlong rush to an illegal war (we were not in fact under attack). As time wore on and Bush began his assault on the Constitution and any people bold enough to criticize, I believed that "the republic is endangered more by actions of our own government than by those of any terrorist." With the election of a high-minded, compassionate, intelligent man like Barack Obama, my fears have ceased.
"Honor them with peace, not war"
United for Peace
Sunday, April 30, 2006
In the 1950s, economist John Kenneth Galbrath tutored then presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in Keynesian economics :
The idea that government could and should through its policies adjust the economy to better serve the public interest was promoted by a series of Democratic presidents and congresses, including Lyndon Johnson whose 'Great Society' lifted many out of poverty and greatly increased the middle class in proportion to the upper and lower classes.
Under Ronald Reagan, the government began to retrench, cutting taxes on the richest members of society and attempting to shave programs for the poor. Reagan was at loggerheads with a Democratic Congress, who let him cut taxes but refused to abolish all the welfare programs.
Not until the second Bush with a Republican congress have we seen a complete abandonment of the idea that government can work for the public good. Now it works for big business. Although some people have done very well under the Republicans,the middle class has shrunk as many lost their jobs and homes and dropped into poverty.
I wonder if Galbrath died of a broken heart.
Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
Galbraith dies... perhaps of a broken heart?
In the 1950s, economist John Kenneth Galbrath tutored then presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson in Keynesian economics :
Keynesian economics... is an economic theory based on the ideas of an English economist, John Maynard Keynes, as put forward in his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936 in response to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Keynesian economics promotes a mixed economy, where both the state and the private sector play an important role. The rise of Keynesianism marked the end of laissez-faire economics (economic theory based on the belief that markets and the private sector could operate well on their own, without state intervention).
The idea that government could and should through its policies adjust the economy to better serve the public interest was promoted by a series of Democratic presidents and congresses, including Lyndon Johnson whose 'Great Society' lifted many out of poverty and greatly increased the middle class in proportion to the upper and lower classes.
Under Ronald Reagan, the government began to retrench, cutting taxes on the richest members of society and attempting to shave programs for the poor. Reagan was at loggerheads with a Democratic Congress, who let him cut taxes but refused to abolish all the welfare programs.
Not until the second Bush with a Republican congress have we seen a complete abandonment of the idea that government can work for the public good. Now it works for big business. Although some people have done very well under the Republicans,the middle class has shrunk as many lost their jobs and homes and dropped into poverty.
I wonder if Galbrath died of a broken heart.
Palema
11:38 AM
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Copyright © 2001-03 Pam Shorey
(except the specific sources credited in quotes)
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