Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, said confidentially to fellow Democrats in 1939: "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work."
As for the Federal Reserve today, a headline in the Wall Street Journal of April 25th said, "Fed Searches for Next Step."
That is a big part of the problem. It is not politically possible for either the Federal Reserve or the Obama administration to leave the economy alone and let it recover on its own.
Both are under pressure to "do something." If one thing doesn't work, then they have to try something else. And if that doesn't work, they have to come up with yet another gimmick.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/05/03/fed_up_with_the_fed_109730.html
Nevermind that it's not their money they are playing with, and in a sense, it doesn't matter what they do - just that they do "something" so that when the economy turns - which is to say if they don't do so much damage that they extend the downturn, if not for lack of trying - they can claim the credit. This is the evil of political calculus, as in the end, those in power will always say, Trumplike, "Look what I did" whether or not they did anything that helped - and those who wish to believe in the omnipotence of political leaders will do so.
As for the Federal Reserve today, a headline in the Wall Street Journal of April 25th said, "Fed Searches for Next Step."
That is a big part of the problem. It is not politically possible for either the Federal Reserve or the Obama administration to leave the economy alone and let it recover on its own.
Both are under pressure to "do something." If one thing doesn't work, then they have to try something else. And if that doesn't work, they have to come up with yet another gimmick.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/05/03/fed_up_with_the_fed_109730.html
Nevermind that it's not their money they are playing with, and in a sense, it doesn't matter what they do - just that they do "something" so that when the economy turns - which is to say if they don't do so much damage that they extend the downturn, if not for lack of trying - they can claim the credit. This is the evil of political calculus, as in the end, those in power will always say, Trumplike, "Look what I did" whether or not they did anything that helped - and those who wish to believe in the omnipotence of political leaders will do so.
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