Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: Speaking of volatility

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nobody is salivating over the prospect of the working class suffer, but it
did not do that well during the Clinton "boom."  But I do relish the
downfall of many highly leveraged businesses.

I recall your glee at the demise of some of the dot.coms -- a
pleasure,which I shared with you.

Although workers suffered during the Depression, the working-class
probably benefitted in the long run -- of course, that long-term
perspective smacks of Andrew Mellon.

More important, the continuation of the "boom" has fueled the triumphalism
of neo-liberalism, which has brought untold damage to the rest of the
world.  A crisis might free other countries to pursue their own course.

On Fri, Jul 13, 2001 at 10:28:06AM -0400, Doug Henwood wrote:
> Mark Jones wrote:
>
> >Doug Henwood:
> >>
> >>
> >>  Once again, I have to remark on how weird it is that a bunch of
> >>  friends of the working class are getting all excited about the
> >>  prospects for recession, which means the disemployment of millions
> >>  and lower wages for everyone else. Does the ghost of Andrew Mellon
> >>  lurk over PEN-L?
> >
> >I hope we can raise the level of debate above this.
>
> Actually I think it's quite relevant to the intellectual and
> political marginalization of left political economy - it has no
> analytical vocabulary for talking about "good" times, and overtly or
> covertly roots for crisis to do the hard political work of
> discrediting capitalism. It's temperamentally doomy and gloomy, and
> therefore has little emotional appeal to an audience broader than a
> hardy band of miserablists.
>
> Doug
>

--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx