Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
An economic school has led to gridlock in Washington
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-jr-an-economic-school-has-led-to-gridlock-in-washington/2014/02/09/12de8df0-9020-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.htmlAn economic school has led to gridlock in Washington
By E.J. Dionne Jr., Sunday, February 9, 7:03 PM
One of my favorite moments during the 2012 Republican presidential contest came when Ron Paul, fresh from his strong showing in Iowa, triumphantly told his supporters: Were all Austrians now!
I imagined many Americans scratching their heads and wondering: Why do we want to be Austrians? They live in a nice country with stunning mountains and all that, but arent we perfectly happy to be Americans?
Of course those in the know, particularly Pauls enthusiasts, understood the libertarian presidential candidates reference: that Americans were rejecting the economic ideas of John Maynard Keynes that encouraged government intervention and provided intellectual ballast for the New Deal. Instead, they were coming around to the principles of the anti-government economics of Austrians Friedrich A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises.
Hayek and Mises perceived little difference between democratic governments that used their power to plan against recessions and dictatorships that did the same thing. In this view, the policies of Franklin Roosevelt led down what Hayek called the Road to Serfdom and were thus objectively comparable to those of Hitler or Stalin.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 1597 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (6)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
An economic school has led to gridlock in Washington (Original Post)
jsr
Feb 2014
OP
fasttense
(17,301 posts)1. We have been doing the "Austrian" thing for the past 33 years
when will these fools acknowledge a failed ideology?
kristopher
(29,798 posts)2. von Mises etal are fruitcakes. nt
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)3. Chicago!
bemildred
(90,061 posts)4. And people wonder where Orwell got his "Freedom is Slavery" lines.
"Democratic government is the road to serfdom" fits real well.