25-08-2013, 07:02 PM
A few quick notes -- from a venue I'm not usually at.
Gibson's book makes clear that Kennedy tax cuts were only aimed at increasing capital investment, employment and productivity. If corporations could not demonstrate the increased investment of profits into expansion, the profits were to be taxed at the standard (or increased) rate.
He also shows that into 1962 and 1963, small to medium businesses were actually prospering under JFK.
Many have been crying out for a "rebirth" of Keynesian practice today. Certainly not a radical, but Paul Krugman is usually a decent read (though sometimes unconvincingly defensive of Obama).
The Affluent Society was quite a book for its time. I remember reading it my first year in high school; it changed my way of thinking. Imagine, the government actually paying a portion of the population not to work so as to create alternating workforces!
I agree, in terms of "ideology", about Reagan. But, just as with Eisenhower, Ford and GWB, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that each had powerful VPs who probably determined policy even more than these puppet Presidents. That, compared to Dan Quayle, with his Mickey Mouse Club ears.
Gibson's book makes clear that Kennedy tax cuts were only aimed at increasing capital investment, employment and productivity. If corporations could not demonstrate the increased investment of profits into expansion, the profits were to be taxed at the standard (or increased) rate.
He also shows that into 1962 and 1963, small to medium businesses were actually prospering under JFK.
Many have been crying out for a "rebirth" of Keynesian practice today. Certainly not a radical, but Paul Krugman is usually a decent read (though sometimes unconvincingly defensive of Obama).
The Affluent Society was quite a book for its time. I remember reading it my first year in high school; it changed my way of thinking. Imagine, the government actually paying a portion of the population not to work so as to create alternating workforces!
I agree, in terms of "ideology", about Reagan. But, just as with Eisenhower, Ford and GWB, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that each had powerful VPs who probably determined policy even more than these puppet Presidents. That, compared to Dan Quayle, with his Mickey Mouse Club ears.