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This morning a friend sent the video below, and I was struck in seeing how right Mark Twain was when he said that “history didn't exactly repeat itself, but that it often rhymes.” The video was produced when I was trying to make my case against the stimulus package as governor in 2009. Then, as now, people were rightly frightened by the unknown and political forces coalesced to do "something."
But it's in these moments that we need to be most deliberate about the long term effects of what we are doing.
Then we added trillions of dollars of new debt in combating financial perils.
Today, we are adding trillions of dollars of new debt in combating financial perils.
The FED said then that they would do whatever it took, even if it meant simply throwing money out of helicopters.
Today, the FED again says it will do whatever it takes.
The added debts of ten years ago set the stage for the financial imbalances that were simply exposed by the Coronavirus. Over the last ten years we have become financially weaker as a nation, and at some point we can't go further in denying financial reality without serious financial consequences. I fear we are approaching that point and its repercussions.
Tomorrow, I'll try and dive into some of the specifics of the emergency aid bill, but for now...I'd just ask you to think about asking those who carry our collective voice in Washington to remember subtraction as well as addition. Yes, we have needs...but in adding to address them, can we not subtract from things not as pressing in these tumultuous times?
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
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