The Great Tragedy

"Maybe I should have saved those leftover dreams."
 -- Johnny Burke, lyrics; Jimmy Van Heusen, music

   A tragedy is a sad event. A great tragedy is a sad event that could have been avoided.
   Just as the Great Depression of the 1930s could have been less extreme and could have ended sooner, so also the Great Recession of the last decade, if strong enough action had been taken by those charged with caring for the nation's economic health.
   Moreover, it's an open question whether the Great Recession is over. Certainly, there have been signs of a recovery, but there is still a danger of relapse, and consequences could be worse than before. And therein lies the Great Tragedy -- that the relapse and collapse can be avoided.
   How? By the designated economic caretakers agreeing on policies and putting them in place.
   Unfortunately, the two sets of economic physicians are so far apart in their diagnoses of the illness as well as the treatment that there is little chance of consensus. Result: No treatment at all, and the illness worsens.

   Libertarian economists insist that Keynes was wrong. Liberals maintain that something -- anything -- must be done, that doing nothing is not an option. On the contrary, the libertarians say, nothing is exactly what we should be doing. Leave the sheep alone, and they'll be happy, said the wolf.

   Libertarians claim the right to be left alone. Nonetheless, when things go wrong, they accept government bailouts. And oil spill cleanup costs, aided by government funds, are claimed as tax deductions, as are fines levied against banks caught defrauding borrowers.

   Heads I win, tails you lose.

   All the while, those at the top of the economic food chain gorge on opportunities, enlarging their nest eggs in advance of a rainy day -- an attitude consistent with 19th Century economic thinking.

   As for those without umbrellas, here comes that rainy day.