tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post4748600423559258977..comments2024-03-22T02:37:15.030-05:00Comments on Macro Musings Blog: Is This Economic Crisis a Key Turning Point in History?David Beckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577612979801459194noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-35625049752365601762009-06-04T20:39:53.630-05:002009-06-04T20:39:53.630-05:00Excellent points in these comments that the statis...Excellent points in these comments that the statistics economists like to dwell on--such as inflation, the money supply, and the current banking crisis--are primarily just symptoms "of a deeper political dysfunction."<br /><br />America prospered for centuries and grew to be #1 in spite of periodic panics, depressions, and financial crises. The turning point may well have been when bill greenehttp://www.thecommongenius.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-49695467139266712282009-06-02T15:04:47.715-05:002009-06-02T15:04:47.715-05:00ECB:
I have had that book for some years now and ...ECB:<br /><br />I have had that book for some years now and never got around to reading it. Maybe I should! <br /><br />Great point about inflation being a symptom. In Ferguson's latest book <I>The Ascent of Money</I>, he makes some rather bold claims along the sames lines about finance and money being the key factors driving history. What is interesting is that in his earlier book <I>The David Beckworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04577612979801459194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-55086627566760506232009-06-02T14:16:16.709-05:002009-06-02T14:16:16.709-05:00Ferguson is late to the party. Paul Kennedy wrote ...Ferguson is late to the party. Paul Kennedy wrote about this in 1988 (Rise & Fall of Great Powers). He argues military overstretch reduces growth.<br />And I think Ferguson is offbase with the claim inflation caused the collapse of the Habsburg empire. Inflation is always a symptom of a deeper political dysfunction.ECBnoreply@blogger.com