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RJJ, I've read ''[http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/causes-cures.pdf Causes and Cures of Unemployment in the Great Depression]'', and have a few questions. (1) On page 20 you state, "Supply-side economics was central to the New Deal" as an apparent explanation for the failure of the New Deal to reduce unemployment.  Perhaps you can explain what you mean by "supply side" here.  (2) On page 23 in summary, you declare what was needed "was some way to subsidize employers of the structurally unemployed."  The context seems to suggest government subsidies paid from the Treasury to businesses (i.e., transfer payments) for workers wages. Are these the findings of conservative historians, during the Reagan era, that you speak of? (3) On page 23 you also state, "My argument is congruent with Blanchard and Summers."  While the thrashing Summers takes on CP's [[Barack Obama]] page may be somewhat controversial (Summers did serve on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors, a fact downplayed & ignored by Clinton and Obama supporters), Summers is not an historian, as far as I know.  Did you mean to say, "the work of conservative economists," rather than "conservative historians"?  Thank you.  [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 00:13, 19 January 2010 (EST)

RJJ, I've read ''[http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/causes-cures.pdf Causes and Cures of Unemployment in the Great Depression]'', and have a few questions. (1) On page 20 you state, "Supply-side economics was central to the New Deal" as an apparent explanation for the failure of the New Deal to reduce unemployment.  Perhaps you can explain what you mean by "supply side" here.  (2) On page 23 in summary, you declare what was needed "was some way to subsidize employers of the structurally unemployed."  The context seems to suggest government subsidies paid from the Treasury to businesses (i.e., transfer payments) for workers wages. Are these the findings of conservative historians, during the Reagan era, that you speak of? (3) On page 23 you also state, "My argument is congruent with Blanchard and Summers."  While the thrashing Summers takes on CP's [[Barack Obama]] page may be somewhat controversial (Summers did serve on Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors, a fact downplayed & ignored by Clinton and Obama supporters), Summers is not an historian, as far as I know.  Did you mean to say, "the work of conservative economists," rather than "conservative historians"?  Thank you.  [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 00:13, 19 January 2010 (EST)

::some great questions! 1) on supply side-- I meant the New Deal tried to reduce the supply of labor by taking unemployed people out of the competitive labor market (thru CWA, FERA, CCC, WPA, child labor codes, restrictions on married women, old age pension if you did not work, expelling Mexicans--and by 1940 the draft). For example, a young man on CCC would not be lined up every morning looking for a job.  I am very negative on this approach (see text before footnote 25)  2) subsidies were used in WW2 with great positive effect, and are in use today -- Milton Friedman's negative income tax operates today--and it should have been tried in 1930s but were  not; 3) I specifically meant the 1988 article by Blanchard and Summers, which is not historical but theoretical and extends some of Friedman's work on natural rates of unemployment. [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 01:39, 19 January 2010 (EST)

::some great questions! 1) on supply side-- I meant the New Deal tried to reduce the supply of labor by taking unemployed people out of the competitive labor market (thru CWA, FERA, CCC, WPA, child labor codes, restrictions on married women, old age pension if you did not work, expelling Mexicans--and by 1940 the draft). For example, a young man on CCC would not be lined up every morning looking for a job.  I am very negative on this approach (see text before footnote 25)  2) subsidies were used in WW2 with great positive effect, and are in use today -- Milton Friedman's negative income tax operates today--and it should have been tried in 1930s but were  not; 3) I specifically meant the 1988 article by Blanchard and Summers, which is not historical but theoretical and extends some of Friedman's work on natural rates of unemployment. [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 01:39, 19 January 2010 (EST)

:::Ok, so this use of the term "supply side" differs from what supply side is.  Supply side refers to the importance of incentives to stimulate economic output, rather than classic Keynsian measurements of aggregate demand to determine "stimulus".

:::Ok, so this use of the term "supply side" differs from what supply side is.  Supply side refers to the importance of incentives to stimulate economic output, rather than classic Keynsian measurements of aggregate demand to determine "stimulus". [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 07:43, 19 January 2010 (EST)