tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post2516022750630640794..comments2023-10-19T10:43:38.825-04:00Comments on Free Advice: Why Military Spending Didn't Get Us Out of the Great DepressionBob Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04001108408649311528noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-35695004063866425782009-10-05T16:44:03.658-04:002009-10-05T16:44:03.658-04:00Thinkahol: Gene was illustrating the problem with ...Thinkahol: Gene was illustrating the problem with using unemployment as a measure of the economy's health. He wasn't saying everyone starved during WWII!<br /><br /><i>I'm not convinced that real value didn't end up getting produced.</i><br /><br />Gene didn't claim that nothing of value would be produced. The question is whether it would result in <i>more</i> things of value being produced, or <i>fewer</i> than would have been produced absent government intervention.<br /><br /><i>[T]he take home wages for employed workers itself would create real value.</i><br /><br />Not much value if there's less stuff to buy with these wages.english bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-2971735577494764782009-10-05T15:00:07.897-04:002009-10-05T15:00:07.897-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.thinkaholhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02649475904990456289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-80225630000994952282009-10-05T14:56:33.201-04:002009-10-05T14:56:33.201-04:00thinkahol again (wanted to just comment before I f...thinkahol again (wanted to just comment before I figured out the password issue)<br /><br /><br /><br />Are their proposed alternative measures or definitions of the depression however vague? <br /><br />If indeed employment was closer 100% than its ever been (and I think looking back we can see that everyone certainly didn't starve (I think something like 40% of produce came from victory gardens)), we were in a very popular war against "an existential threat" and when the war ends the U.S. has 45% of total global manufacturing power, I'm not convinced that real value didn't end up getting produced.<br /><br />In fact, even excluding the weapons created by military spending, the take home wages for employed workers itself would create real value.<br /><br />I'm not sure you can wave away the difference between the highest unemployment and the highest employment in U.S. history.<br /><br />The issue of what people prefer, and implying that they would rather go hungry than work doesn't make sense to me. But I think it was probably a moot point considering that WW2 was the most popular U.S. war ever fought.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-82826929013588182852009-10-05T09:28:36.289-04:002009-10-05T09:28:36.289-04:00thinkahol,
Actually, Bob Higgs also deals with th...thinkahol,<br /><br />Actually, Bob Higgs also deals with that issue. During the war, unemployment reached historical lows (along the lines of 1%). The problem, of course, is that the draft makes this figure virtually meaningless, since there is no guarantee that a drafted soldier would prefer their "work + wage" to the leisure time they'd have otherwise.<br /><br />But, from a GDP measurement standpoint, one would guess that GDP would increase... Though, as Gene points out, that doesn't mean much, since the product is of questionable value.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16437750433283509380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-64484194254193291932009-10-05T09:01:07.020-04:002009-10-05T09:01:07.020-04:00"I don't know what the numbers are on emp..."I don't know what the numbers are on employment, but it seems like GDP aside, employing everyone and their wife would in fact get us out of the Great Depression."<br /><br />Sure, it would get everyone employed, but the question is, how much of real value is being produced? Say, if we employ everyone painting their own house, we'll have nice looking houses, but soon everyone will starve to death.gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-24069232439634852322009-10-04T21:26:36.330-04:002009-10-04T21:26:36.330-04:00I don't know what the numbers are on employmen...I don't know what the numbers are on employment, but it seems like GDP aside, employing everyone and their wife would in fact get us out of the Great Depression.thinkaholhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02649475904990456289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-40903730318095310592009-10-04T20:09:04.425-04:002009-10-04T20:09:04.425-04:00C+I+G+X-I=GDP is and remains the probably best ill...C+I+G+X-I=GDP is and remains the probably best illustration of why Keynesian macro-economics is funny.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-12731139168594618002009-10-04T19:15:55.019-04:002009-10-04T19:15:55.019-04:00He's been to a bunch of Mises Institute events...He's been to a bunch of Mises Institute events. I don't know if he calls himself an Austrian, but he is very sympathetic to the school, if nothing else.Bob Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04001108408649311528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5776375569387669394.post-47796642198854413432009-10-04T15:20:41.627-04:002009-10-04T15:20:41.627-04:00Is Bob Higgs an Austrian?Is Bob Higgs an Austrian?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com