Quote:
Originally Posted by OmahaFanatical4
After all, you only need statistics if you want to plan the economy,
Or if you want to understand reality, and stuff. But sure, railing against mainstream economics is fun, too.
Look, the whole "the New Deal fixed the Depression" or "World War II fixed the Depression" are oversimplifications. Everyone with more than a cursory reading of history knows this. But for high school students, that's a decent summary, like saying "slavery was the cause of the Civil War." Well, it was more complicated, but that's the basic truth. Likewise, the re-energizing of the American industrial system yanked it out of the Depression. Did it need to be spent on tanks and bombs? No. Was this the most productive use of the money? Definitely not. As you said, WWII did tremendous damage to infrastructure,
but not in the United States. The US was in the very fortunate position of being virtually untouched by the war's destruction, while still reaping the benefit of increased production. It's the sad reality of human nature that military adventures and warfare are among the very few things that people can agree on the need to pour massive money into.
I recommend that people start with Eric Rauchway's
The Great Depression & The New Deal: A Very Short Introduction if they're serious about an overview of the period. But I don't want this turning into a "Keynesian theory is a myth!" *debate.* Take that crap to Politard land where it belongs, and where the acolytes will care.