Less Is More After COVID-19, Forbes Argues

Latest Polls (view all)

Where do you stand on the Transgender Issue now that the issue has gotten to the overt point of the open celebration of this lifestyle choice, dictated by certain direct and explicit actions.

91.07% I do not approve of behavior that has within its expressed tenants policies that harm children.

8.04% I do support the Trans Community in all its many facets because diversity is at a premium in today's society.

0.89% What is a "Children's Drag Queen Story Hour?"

Click Here to Vote
112 Vote(s)

View all Polls

Less Is More After COVID-19, Forbes Argues

Published: Thursday, April 23rd, 2020 @ 7:11 am
By: John Locke Foundation ( More Entries )

Publisher's note: The author of this post is Mitch Kokai for the John Locke Foundation.

Steve Forbes offers Forbes magazine readers a history lesson that could help guide economic policy after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coming question is what should be done once the coronavirus crisis abates and the kick wears off from Washington's rescue efforts.
For answers, we should-but won't-heed some of the key lessons of the 1920-1921 depression. After World War I, the U.S. experienced a torrid inflationary boom. But the bubble burst, especially after the Federal Reserve sharply raised interest rates. The economy crashed, and unemployment soared to around 20% (recordkeeping in those days was haphazard).
How did the federal government react? As recounted in James Grant's definitive history of that contraction, The Forgotten Depression-1921: The Crash That Cured Itself, Washington did the opposite of what economists would counsel today. Spending was slashed from wartime levels; taxes were cut; regulations that had been piled on during the conflict were lifted; and nationalized companies, primarily railroads and telephone companies, were returned to their rightful owners. The dollar was not devalued. The economy quickly rebounded. We were soon at full employment, and the Roaring '20s were underway. The U.S. experienced one of the most innovative eras in its history.
Washington's reaction to the Great Depression a decade later was a study in contrast: Spending sharply increased, taxes rose, numerous new bureaucracies were created and businesses were deluged with a flood of new rules and constantly harassed by regulators. Hard times continued, and real recovery didn't come until after World War II.
In fact, the whole catastrophe was brought on by activist governmental errors. In 1929 the new president, Herbert Hoover, wanted to do something for hard-pressed farmers, and he thought tariffs on agricultural imports would do the trick. Congress, acting like pigs in a feeding frenzy, raised taxes enormously on thousands of imported items.

Follow Carolina Journal Online's continuing coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic HERE.

Go Back

Login to Leave a Comment

Epidemic Models Come Under Attack

John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics

“Stimulus Checks” Raise Questions

Our Members

ENCN Sign Up

BCN Home

Beaufort Observer

Portfolios

Current Events: A Historical Perspective

Current Weather

Latest Comments

Latest Polls

Featured Entries

Latest Entries

Less Is More After COVID-19, Forbes Argues | Eastern NC Now

Less Is More After COVID-19, Forbes Argues

Leave a Guest Comment

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

new poll: 73% of Italians support the mass deportation of illegal alien migrants

Former top Bill Clinton advisor warns socialist takeover of Democrat Party threat is real

Florida federal judge overrules crooked Biden judge's order on illegal alien voter database

Iranian Regime Whips Female Singer For YouTube Concert As Mullahs Execute Protesters

America's surveillance state arrives - and it is state and local governments responsible

Tests again show that majority of "unaccompanied minor" illegal aliens are actually adults

Newsome tries to cover up corruption in crooked California elections

Will Democrats force Graham Platner out of Maine Senate race?

Beaufort County Republicans Try to Un-Ring the Finance Bell

American Upset Caps Off Wild UFC Night

Our Founding Principles: The Beginning of the American "Experiment"

Is this why chief Justice John Roberts has long been sandbagging conservatives?

Florida bans illegal aliens from admission to state colleges and universities

It was the Biden FBI that sent a mole into Gavin Newsome's inner circle on criminal probe

French mother schedules march, calls for "war" after 5 migrant teens lynch her 17 y.o. son

Are American public schools destroying what made America great?

new poll - 62% of Democrats would vote for a socialist, Dems prefer socialism over capitalism

:Appeals Court overturns Biden judge on park services signs disparaging American heroes

General who directed Afghan withdrawal debacle is fired, and the left howls about it

Vance’s Most Trusted Adviser To Depart Trump Administration

Federal court backs Tennessee law making illegal presence by migrant a state crime

America at 250: Will we keep what we have been given?

Stein creates bipartisan healthcare affordability commission

The OnlyFans Success Story That’s Missing A Dark Reality

SCOTUS gives US citizenship to babies of Chinese birth tourists and illegal aliens

Now it is a Congress seat in CO - Far left socialist takes out another liberal Democrat in primary

Peru becomes latest Latin American country to swing to the right as conservative wins presidency