re:  Unlearning the lessons of the 1930s

As usual, Paul Krugman is advocating on behalf of additional spending by the federal government to "stimulate" the economy.  The fact that the hundreds of billions of "stimulus" dollars already spent haven't worked might cause some to rethink their approach; for Dr. Krugman, however, it is proof that we need to spend even more.  To defend his position, he re-treads his argument that the economic downturn in the late 1930s (sometimes called "the Depression within the Depression") was caused by a cutback in government spending.

What Dr. Krugman ignores, however, is that the turndown in 1938 corresponded with the imposition of tax increases — on individual income (of course, only for "the rich") and on capital investment.  That happens to be the same approach that Roosevelt's predecessor, Herbert Hoover, took to battle the then-nascent Depression.  It is also the same approach President Obama is advocating now.  The problem isn't "unlearning the lessons of the 1930s"; rather, the problem is that Professor Krugman and President Obama didn't learn those lessons to begin with.

Sincerely,
Dave Smith
Houston, TX