Mar

4

The Junto will be held Thurs. March 7th

Time: 7:30 pm

Place: 20 West 44th St., ground floor

Cato Institute senior fellow Brink Lindsey will speak about "The Folly of Nostalgianomics," his term for the celebration of the post-World War II quarter century that has been popular among commentators like Paul Krugman.

Brink has written me:

"I'll address the puzzle of the 'Golden Age' of the post-WWII quarter-century, which was a period of (a) impressive economic gains and (b) heavy government intervention in markets. I will resolve the puzzle by showing that conditions for economic growth were much more favorable then than subsequently–and therefore even very bad economic policies were consistent with strong economic performance.

"Accordingly, the claim that we should go back to 90% top tax rates and heavy unionization (or equivalent types of government intervention) because we had those and high growth in the 50s and 60s is on a par with claiming we should institute widespread corruption and censorship because China has them and is growing rapidly.

"I can also address claims that living standards haven't improved since the 70s. This is demonstrably untrue, although it is true that (measured) productivity growth since the 70s has slowed down and so have (measured) income gains, especially for less skilled workers."

As is usual with Junto meetings, the evening will be highly interactive, with plenty of opportunity for comments and questions.

Hope you can make it!

Gene Epstein

Junto Moderator


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