19 votes

Blame economists for the mess we’re in: Why did America listen to the people who thought we needed “more millionaires and more bankrupts?”

Posted by dredmorbius
Tags: economics, milton friedman, usa, inequality.wealth, opinion, author.binyamin appelbaum, source.the new york times, paywall.soft
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/opinion/sunday/economics-milton-friedman.html

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Title
Opinion | Blame Economists for the Mess We're In
Published
Aug 24 2019
Word count
1520 words

2 comments

  1. [2]
    JamesTeaKirk
    Link
    It's strange that the author chose to skip over Reagan and his appointee, Greenspan. You can argue that Greenspan's refusal to regulate the derivatives market (in the face of numerous warnings for...

    It's strange that the author chose to skip over Reagan and his appointee, Greenspan. You can argue that Greenspan's refusal to regulate the derivatives market (in the face of numerous warnings for many years) directly led to the 2008 financial crisis.

    4 votes
    1. dredmorbius
      Link Parent
      You'll find many of the usual suspects rounded up in the line "In the four decades between 1969 and 2008". Newspaper editorials offer a large audience but limited space, and an exhaustive listing...

      You'll find many of the usual suspects rounded up in the line "In the four decades between 1969 and 2008".

      Newspaper editorials offer a large audience but limited space, and an exhaustive listing of all and sundry, or even more than a very few major players. Volker, Martin, Keynes, Burns, Kahn, Schultz, Schultze, Lucas, Friedman, and Scrooge McDuck are specifically mentioned. That's an extensive dramatis personae already for a 1,400 word essay.

      Though yes, I agree with you on Greenspan's culpability. He'd issued a pretty remarkable mea culpa for that, actually.

      1 vote