Economics
The Welfare State - paid out to secure your wellbeing
Laissez-Faire capitalism says that the state should not regulate business
Industrial capitalism is really bad
People wanted to help the poor
Poor people become criminals
Organize unions
Therefore, leading to revolutions
Criminals were just killed
Then they were transported to Australia
Unions illegal in 1799 (Distort labor market)
A state that is democratic and capitalist but looks after the welfare of its state is called a Welfare State
Liberal - State intervenes as a last resort, to get people back to work
Social-democratic - Provide universal aid to avoid situations in which aid becomes necessary
Conservative - The preservation of culture is more important than the preservation of a Laissez-faire economy. State will always step in to keep the culture going. Preserve all social divisions as well, not women though I guess.
The start - Germany had to pay a huge amount as punishment for causing the First World War (The roaring twenties)
The Great Depression -
Deflationary Spiral - occurs when prices fall, leading to money decreasing
John Maynard Keynes - British economist, invented modern economics, before it was tiny scale, macroeconomics.
More to getting paid than just the number
Pay may go up, but that doesn’t matter if value goes down
The natural minimum wage is lower than that (because they can’t or won’t be able to buy anything)
If wages fall, you need to lay off individuals
Deflationary spiral- brought about by an exogenous shock
Delayed investment reduces economic activity
Wages drop so debt becomes harder to repay
Main problems are a decline in economic activity and a lack of investment
Solutions are lowering interest rates, creating economic activity, and deficit spending, where the government has to borrow money
Believed in aggregate demand
Classical Economists - Concerned with partial equilibrium. Supply creates its demand. (Say’s Law) Never too much of things
The Multiplier Effect - Money is multiplied by the business cycle, even if someone has 20% the other 80% will circulate again and again, the government may tax it at each stage, the government eventually then makes a profit.
Demand-side Economic - high demand for goods and services leads to economic growth
Supply-side Economics - encourages economic growth based on the supply of goods and services available
Monetary - Influencing the value of money
Fiscal - Taxing and Spending
Franklin Delano Roosevelt - A president in 1933, tried to put Keynes' advice into practice,
Deficit - overspending in a fiscal year
Debt - total deficits plus interest
The Hundred Days -
HE closed all banks for 4 days, creating a deposit insurance scheme.
HE got rid of the gold standard
HE regulated the sale of stocks (Not Keynesian)
HE ended prohibition (Not Keynesian)
HE started a welfare program, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Indian Division
HE began a public works program to stimulate the economy
The New Deal - Made the economy act (Cut government spending by 500 million dollars per year)
Started the public works administration
Deposit insurance for banks
Alphabet agencies
Things were almost all solved in 1937, but unemployment was still extreme (solve is Adolf Hitler)
Required public spending and tons of employment
Night Watchman State - classical liberals, the government provides security
Nanny State - modern liberal, pejorative, how classical liberals characterize modern liberals, government coddles its citizens
Post War Consensus -
Beveridge Report (1942)
Victory over Germany but also:
Want
Disease
Ignorance
Squalor
Idleness
Wartime Welfare Warm-up:
Free vaccines for school children
Subsidized milk for the mothers and the children under five
Free milk at school
Very cheap housing in areas destroyed by German bombing
Free emergency rooms for war victims
1944 Education Act: Started many more universities and revised public schooling
1948: National Health Service
Overall Characterized by:
Nationalisation
Strong trade unions
Highly regulated business
High taxes
Strong welfare state
No comparable consensus
Fear of communism (no collectivism)
Civil rights conflict
Caused political polarization prevented broad agreement (going towards the end)
GI Bill - For veterans returning from war, send them all to school so there aren’t high unemployment numbers. Brought in social insurance, pension program, disability insurance, and public health.
The Great Society (1964-1968) - Lyndon Johnson (Likes his penis, named it jumbo)
Brought in Medicare in 1965, which was health insurance for people 65 and older
Brought in Medicaid in 1965, which was health insurance for low-income people
Canada got universal healthcare in 1947 and family allowances in 1945
Perverse Incentives - practices leading to undesirable results
Veterans Benefits - Employment help, disability insurance, pensions, or loans, wartime housing limited
Western Economics were Keynesian until the 70s, inflation was tolerated because rising prices were not a problem if the economy accelerated. Keynes believed inflations and recessions were mutually exclusive.
Friedman said that Keynesian policies would work in the short term, leading to long-term unemployment.
Monetarism - Total amount of money in the economy, ideas of monetarists.
Companies pay wages that appeal to workers
Money paid can buy what workers want
Unemployment is at its natural level
The government wants to lower the unemployment rate
Pursue expansionary policies to grow the economy
There’s more money in the country, so demand rises
Demand goes up, so does prices (inflation)
Companies pay their workers more, but while the number of dollars is higher, less can be bought with them (money illusion)
Workers learn that their wages aren’t enough, and demand more
Companies give more, but to balance out the higher pay, they fire workers too (unemployment)
(Prices have to go up randomly, or overnight someone changes the monetary system)
Bretton Woods (1944) - The US dollar converted back into gold, all other currencies only convertible to the US dollars, the US dollar became bad
Richard Nixon (Nixon Shock of 1971) - Severs links between US dollar and gold completely, value of dollar decided by vote. Lost a third of its value.
Yom Kippur War - Israel got attacked by Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, North Korea. (Israel won!) The Arab League imposed an oil embargo, the main targets were the USA, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, and the UK since they supported Israel.
The Oil Crisis - The Price of oil rose to $3.65, prices rose for everything.
The Recession of 1973- 1975 - The US dollar lost value and prices rose.
Stagflation - During the 70s, unemployment and inflation rose. Keynes was proven wrong. (Stagnant economic growth AND inflation)
Friedrich Hayek - The economy is too complicated to be controlled by humans, any attempts to control the economy require intervention in people's lives, this is collectivism which leads to oppression (communism). Supply-side Economics
Neoliberalism - Stagflation showed the problems with Keynesian economics, Keynes was concerned about demand and its effect on inflation, but he didn’t think that much about how rising costs can drive inflation, no monetary policy that can cause the price of oil to go down, Keynesianism could not solve stagflation of 1973, inflation is caused by high costs then lower costs (price ceilings, change of laws)
Supply-side economics - Lower costs means more business means more supply means lower prices mean less inflation, reduce regulations on businesses (regulatory burden), cut taxes on businesses, make it harder for unions, reduce government spending, looks bad to many people (when people don’t like it they call it trickle-down economics: giving money to rich people in the hope that they will spend the money which will then trickle down to everyone else.)
Government just taking less from corporations than it used to, investment gains taxed less, tax less to encourage investment