Neb, you've got a job to do.

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Then make sure he doesn't come back with his "Reagan revitalized our patriotic American military! He singlehandedly ended the Cold War!" BS, thanks.

Osaka Sun (talk)06:39, 8 December 2011

Just one more thing: was there ever a need to raise military spending like crazy at the time?

Osaka Sun (talk)07:00, 8 December 2011

Not military as such, though it is ironic that that liberals tend to wail over Reagan's "debt explosion" while claiming to follow Keynesian theory. Logical consistency tends to be the first casualty of politics, though. Reagan was more or less a military Keynesian, and said liberals usually have no understanding of neo-chartalist and modern monetary theory.

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)07:10, 8 December 2011

But in a post-industrial (buzzword alert!) economy, isn't using the military as a stimulus rather ineffective?

Star of David.png Radioactive afikomen Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.07:26, 8 December 2011

Note: "Defense spending acts as a mild stimulus; when stimulus is hard to come by, policymakers have to take this effect seriously. Moreover, substantial cuts to the defense budget (which I heartily favor) will without a doubt eliminate many solid, well paying manufacturing and service jobs." IOW, better than nothing. Volcker at the helm of the Fed didn't hurt any either, though Reagan did initiate the long and ignominious reign of Mr. Bubbles.

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)07:30, 8 December 2011

"Relatively ineffective" would've been a better wording on my part. My point was that being a military Keynesian is significantly less effective than being any other kind of Keynesian, so we still shouldn't give Reagan a pass on such things.

Star of David.png Radioactive afikomen Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.07:38, 8 December 2011

True, though it is a wee bit hypocritical to make a massive stink over his racking up debt (other than to point out the fact that the "Reagan as fiscal conservative" mythos is laughably false) while calling for...a massive racking up of debt.

Nebuchadnezzar (talk)07:47, 8 December 2011

Yah. I agree with you on that.

Star of David.png Radioactive afikomen Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.07:55, 8 December 2011