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Article: A Journey Through Economic Time: A Firsthand View.
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- February 23, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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This is essential reading for everyone involved in or affected by the the attempt by the present Congress to cut social and health benefits while simultaneously cutting the taxes of the wealthiest citizens. That way, insists the most prestigious living economist, lies lunacy and national suicide.
The capitalist system is basically sound, in the author's view, but suffers from "an enduring underemployment equilibrium" and consequently needs vigorous state interference prevent recurrent "episodes of disaster." The onslaught since 1980 on the protective devices crafted by President Franklin L. Roosevelt and refined by various successors has reached critical dimensions.