Market charts will be back on Monday after I've gotten a new quote service lined up for Quotetracker
Or, better titled, what really happened in US economic history after WWII and beyond?
About three years ago, NDD and I wrote a series of articles on the Great Depression. Every time I see the revisionists bring out their New Deal agenda, I wind up referring to those articles because they more or less debunk all the revisionist crap out there. But, I wouldn't know that if I and NDD hadn't gone back to look at the actual data as presented by the various government agencies that keep track of the numbers.
Earlier this week, we had the standard revisionist garbage paraded out again -- sans data -- so I again felt the need to debunk their arguments. But that got me thinking -- how much do I know about the post WWII economy? The answer is not much, if anything. Then I started to dig around various economic websites to see what data is actually out there, and it turns out the answer is quite a lot. Going back to 1950, there's data on GDP, prices, M1's currency component, M2's currency/time deposits, a ton of loan data, industrial production and a great deal of employment information. Plus, there's plenty of anecdotal information in the President's report of the Economy and various Federal Reserve reports. So, in short, there's more than enough material to work with.
What's the point of all this? To figure out what really happened in the US economy since WWII -- because I really don't know as much as I would like to know about the U.S. economy.
This is a very wonky project; I don't think it's going to be a huge driver of traffic. But that's not the point.
Also, this will be sporadic, depending on my work schedule. For reasons unknown, this stuff relaxes me. I have no idea why.
Anyway, I'll be starting with the 1950s and working my way through the history. This will be a slow and deliberate process. But, it will be thorough.
Noted for June 20, 2013
6 minutes ago
2 comments:
This is an outstanding project and one which just might drive more traffic here than you've first estimated. If you create a special, specific link on the page so that viewers can access archived portions easily it would undoubtedly make the site a "must see" page.
Incidentally, I suspect that you will find the US economy is subject to energy prices more than anything else. During the 1950s, petroleum costs were pretty much controlled by the Texas Railroad Commission through their control of production. This is especially true with the Permian Basin play which came on stream through that decade. Into the 1960s, the Middle East and North African crude started to flow. The 1970's oil shocks brought cheap (relatively) energy prices to a halt for a time. The oil price bust as the last of the easy oil was found in the 1980s was followed by the inexorable energy cost increases as the Pacific Rim economies have grown. Until we can figure out how to get a handle around our energy costs to reduce exporting dollars, we're screwed.
Include a FAQ section with the project that lists common economic fallacies debunked by your data, and it could become the first stop for a lot of people who are trying to deal with mis-propagandized friends.
I know I would love to have a list I could refer to by number:
"Hey, right-wing brother-in-law, that stuff you heard on Fox News is wrong and I can prove it. Check out #37 on Bonddad's list to see why."
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