“Actually, no. The federal debt DECREASED from 1950-1980. See, here’s a helpful chart of what actually happened! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt”

Just a clarification that may make you rethink your position, the actual debt levels did not decreased from 1950 to 1980 in nominal dollars. Inflation adjusted dollars of debt outstanding may have declined but that is a function of the loss of purchasing power ascribed to those dollars, not the total outstanding.

This chart may help – http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/usdebt.htm

Just something you may want to consider in your argument.

Fairly tail indeed, the difference is that the spending went to private enterprises directly. Under Bush the Military and many of its primary responsibilities are outsourced.

“Politicians took the Keynesian message that government spending can be good and ran with it. They paid for the war on poverty and the war in Vietnam. They sent a man to the moon. All the while, they piled up the federal budget deficit, convinced that Keynes gave them a free pass.”

Actually, no. The federal debt DECREASED from 1950-1980. See, here’s a helpful chart of what actually happened! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

“Prescribing Keynesianism to some politicians is like prescribing crack to a coke addict. In the 1970s…the U.S. had high unemployment, and the Keynesian solution stopped working. The national government spent and spent, but unemployment only got worse. ”

Uh, not according to that chart. I’m a little mystified as to how we recklessly “spent and spent” in the 70’s, yet the national debt declined to its lowest point–either as a straight number or as a percentage of GDP–from 1940 to the present. Were the bookkeepers also on crack? Maybe the numbers are on crack? Because this article suggests they’re lying.

“[In the late 70's] came inflation, something Keynesians had no answer for…After the economic misery of the 1970s, it was the Keynesians’ turn to walk in the wilderness…a school of thought…replaced Keynesianism. The discipline of economics includes many different groups — the monetarists, the Chicago school and supply-side economics.”

So, under Carter the monatarists were right and they beat inflation with a recession. Cool. And, uh, if you look at the chart, you’ll notice that Keynesian economics never went away, it just got a new name! Once the “supply side economics” team took over, government spending goes through the damn roof in 1980, (and kept climbing with a brief lull under Clinton).

It was Keynesian deficit spending, but for some reason everyone agreed it didn’t count if you spent it on the military and tax cuts instead of infrastructure & human capital investment.

Ugh, what a ridiculous article. These figures aren’t hard to find–I’m confused as to why there’s a fairy tale about how and when we did and didn’t spend. Still, I guess it supports the Republican fairy tale that they are fiscally responsible and cut spending. Which, uh, not so much. They actually deficit spend MORE–and on really dumb things.