Re: Help Us Obi-wan Obama...

On Nov 18, 4:00 pm, greego <greg.w.lind...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 15, 3:49 am, TPS <the...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Nov 13, 7:52 pm, greego <greg.w.lind...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Nov 14, 12:41 pm, TPS <the...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Nov 13, 11:29 am, Zorro_2k <Chief_Bi...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

..you're our only hope.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27583162

I wasn't around for the original WPA and CCC, but they sound like good
ideas.  Get people working, and get the infrastructure rebuilt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_window_fallacy

How do you think that parable applies to the CCC and WPA?

It applies to any case in which the positive effects (people going to
work, new infrastructure, etc) are seen, but the opportunity costs and
the means by which such work is funded is ignored.  The kid breaking
the window is the government either taxing us, indebting us or
debasing our currency (ie printing money) to fund these allegedly
'good' projects.  It completely ignores the forgone opportunities that
money could've funded, as well as the immoral way in which they were
appropriated.  Ultimately it carries with it the assumption that the
window-breaker, the government, has enough foresight to know which
windows to break and when.

I understand the parable, but I don't understand how it applies to the
CCC or the WPA. I admit to being at best semi-informed about this
chapter in American history. But I had family in the CCC, and
everything I learned in history class implied that it was an overall
positive thing, in spite of conservative doctrine.
.