Blighted Leadership

I remember the stories of trouble and toil in Britain in the 1970s and early 80s as labour unions refused to be realistic about the future and decided to "take down" the government. People had to suffer with electricity blackouts and a host of other non-existent services as unions flexed their muscle. It was terrible. It was a social war.

The US is going through a social war, but it is from the other end of the telescope. Here's an excellent post by Dean Baker on his CEPR blog:

In discussing the case for extending unemployment benefits a Post editorial tells readers that: "it is possible -- in theory, anyway -- for Congress to be both compassionate and prudent." This makes a great "who's on first," moment.

There is a reason that we have 15 million people unemployed. The people running economic policy -- people with names like Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Jack Snow, Hank Paulson, Robert Rubin -- thought that an $8 trillion housing bubble was really cool. The Washington Post mostly parroted the words of wisdoms coming from these and other people who expressed the same view. It completely ignored those warning that the housing bubble will burst and reck havoc on the economy when it does. (David Lereah, the former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors and the author of the book, Why the Housing Boom Will Not Bust and How You Can Profit From It, was the Post's most widely cited expert on the housing market.)

Now the boom has bust and wrecked the economy. Remarkably, not one person who was responsible for the policy that brought about this disaster seems to have lost their job. However, millions of factory workers, retail clerks, and school teachers have lost their jobs. These people are unemployed not because their lacked the necessary skills. Nor do they lack the desire to work -- they had been working until the economy collapsed.

Tens of millions of people are unemployed or underemployed because people with names like Greenspan and Bernanke do not know how to run the economy. And the Post wants to show them compassion by extending unemployment benefits.

There has been a thirty year war by the ultra-rich on the middle and lower classes in the US. It started with Ronald Reagan's war on unions with his firing the air traffic controllers.

As with all wars, both sides suffer grievously. It is hard to for people to foresee how badly things will go. Traditionally societies bring out the brass bands and party when a war is called because it is seen as a brief and glorious moment. At the end, everybody is shell-shocked and in despair, broke and suffering because the war's ravages were beyond comprehension.

When I look at Dean Baker's list of people "running the economy", I think of the incompetent generals who going into the field with the troops. Only after many massacres and botched campaigns does the army reorganize and put competent people in charge. I'm still waiting for the US (and Canada) to do the same. In Canada we still have Conservatives in charge. The very party that favours business over all other interests is still running the show. Sad.