Show Me The Errors Of Appropriate Keynesian Spending

Considering the way he threatened Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Governor Perry obviously considers himself some sort of economics expert, and considering his opposition to any kind of Keynesian deficit spending to get the unemployed back to work, he must have some iron clad grip on American history. Unlike Governor Perry, I am not an economics expert. I am just an average American, born in the Midwest (Illinois), raised in the Midwest (Wisconsin), currently residing in the Midwest (Ohio). In many ways, I am just the common man, facing these difficult times and trying to raise a family. Then again, there's part of my experience that is a little different from your average Midwesterner (and that Governor Perry seems to dislike): like many others who wanted to expand their horizons, I attended supposedly elitist Eastern universities. I found that by leaving what was familiar to me and conversing with people of a thousand different backgrounds, I learned. Now that doesn't make me better than people who stayed in Wisconsin or Texas (I have dear cousins and friends who are from Texas), but I did learn.

Two of the things that I learned at Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America were to pay attention to previous experience and to ask intelligent questions. "Be attentive" is an imperative roughly equivalent to "show me," the motto of Missouri, one of my previous states of residence.

What then should we pay attention to? The experience we need to pay attention to is the experience of the Great Depression, the first great constriction, and other economic downturns. Doing so will help us understand the current economic constriction that plagues us. The questions we need to ask are:

1. If Keynesian economics is so flawed, then why did Keynesian spending via the New Deal and military spending for World War II end the great depression? In 1932 the unemployment rate was 23.6 percent. By 1936, thanks to the New Deal spending of the Federal Government, the rate had fallen to 16.9 percent. That was a 6.7 percent drop completely connected to the generous social spending of the Federal Government. It was not caused by a later phase of Keynesian stimulus which occurred 5 years later when we entered World War II.

2. Why has the US economy, stimulated by Keynesian policies for 80 years produced more wealth than any other country in history?

These questions must be answered before we abandon an economic model that works. So, Governor Perry "show me." Show me what Franklin Roosevelt did wrong. Show me what Ronald Reagan did wrong when he stimulated the economy through defense spending. Show me what the US government did wrong when it took the internet it had created and gave it to the global private sector for economic growth.

Show me.