link here to article
Galbraith is one of my favorite economists. He understands economic history, and the link between ideas developed a couple of hundred year ago, in a very different world, and economics as it is taught today. I linked to this article by Galbraith because it appeared in the American Conservative. I was impressed that some conservative media are really interested in ideas even if they run counter to their traditional perspective.
In this article, Galbraith explains how Keynes attacked the fundamental ideas of Adam Smith and David Ricardo as well as the Social Darwinism of Spencer. He also points out that, contrary to conservative dogma, government spending is not necessarily wasteful, and that it contributes to GDP just like consumer and business spending. He attacks Republicans and the Obama administration for believing otherwise. He also attacks both of them for repeating conservative doctrine that business spending is the only spending that really matters and that business spending is primarily influenced by their confidence in government. Which translates into a government that lets business operate without any oversight. Keynes believed otherwise. He believed that businesses invested when they saw opportunities for profit. In a modern world dominated by multinational corporations, they will invest where the see the best opportunity for growth or cost reduction.
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