When the recession began there were many wise words about having learnt the lessons of both the Great Depression and Japan’s long malaise. Now we know we didn’t learn a thing. Our stimulus was too weak, too short and not well designed. The banks weren’t forced to return to lending. Our leaders tried papering over the economy’s weaknesses – perhaps out of fear that if we were honest about them, already fragile confidence would erode. But that was a gamble we have now lost. Now the scale of the problem is apparent, a new confidence has emerged: confidence that matters will get worse, whatever action we take. A long malaise now seems like the optimistic scenario.
Malaise
Capitalism is dead. It died in 1929. Since that time the capitalists have been trying to revive Capitalisms lifeless body a la Dr. Frankenstein. The time has come to bury the putrefying corpse of Capitalism once and for all so that the ‘new economics’ can begin to grow and flourish.