>This kind of talk drives me batty. The business class fought the
>New Deal tooth
>and nail. They've been trying to get rid of it for the past 70 or so years.
>Earnest reformers like FDR do not cynically try to "save capitalism from
>itself." They see problems with the system and try to fix them, simple as
>that. Their efforts are nearly always opposed by ardent capitalists who like
>the system as it is, thank you very much (i.e. the business class is oddly
>unappreciative of efforts to "save capitalism from itself").
Of course. But, as an alum of the New York Fed once told me, the attitude in the central bank is that bankers come and go, but the Fed has to do the real long-term thinking for the ruling class. Ditto someone like FDR. Bizpeople are too short-sighted, too divided, and too greedy to think through a crisis. That's why the bourgeoisie needs its executive committee.
In a crisis like the 30s, what the business class wants isn't necessarily what's going to happen. There were too many other political pressures that took precedence. So FDR had to compromise with commies and union organizers.
Doug