tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post912449786228532592..comments2023-10-01T09:22:37.695-07:00Comments on Economists for Obama: Bill Maher's Show & the CrisisDon Pedrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15438565798505041042noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069354713843321730.post-53501811552865009512008-09-15T08:11:00.000-07:002008-09-15T08:11:00.000-07:00"incoherence of the conservative position on gover..."incoherence of the conservative position on government's role in the economy."<BR/><BR/>Triple irony:<BR/><BR/>In The Great Contraction, Milton Friedman argues (accurately) that the Fed's (non)reaction to 1929--failure to ease monetary policy--caused the Depression to continue for years beyond what it should have.<BR/><BR/>That (non)reaction was based on free-market orthodoxy: the necessity of creative destruction.<BR/><BR/>So the Fed was at fault because it hewed to the principles for which Friedman is the poster-child. So the Fed should be eradicated.<BR/><BR/>Friedman's contemporary heirs continue to tie themselves in knots over this fundamental contradiction within their belief system.Steve Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11895481216028771016noreply@blogger.com