--- Seth Ackerman <sethackerman1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> I'm not going to plump for the 1930's as an
> inspiring decade, but I
> disagree with the analysis here. The '30's caused a
> regime shift. It may
> not be visible in the stats for that decade, but it
[WS:] Interesting point and not without merits, but it offers only a partial picture. The missing part is the instituional presence of an alternative to laissez faire capitalism - the planned economy of the USSR, which scared Western bourgeoisie shitless. I think it is a combination of these two factors - the internal jolts caused by the great depression and the external "threat" of the "specter of communism" that prompted the changes that you are talking about. Since the "specter of communism" is absent today, I do not think that a serious depression would now have a similar effect to that in the 1930s.
BTW, greetings from Addis Ababa, everyone, where I am dug in in the UN compound on the hill at a conference. One thing is sure here - any depression in the North would have a really devastating effect here in sub-saharan Africa, Patrick Bond notwithstanding. My internet access is limited here, so no danger of more postings from me in the next week or so :)
Wojtek
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