Since “economic growth” is today’s great problem, and our present Administration is promising to “stimulate” it — to achieve general prosperity by ever wider government controls, while spending an unproduced wealth…
– Ayn Rand, in a column published by the L.A. Times in August 1962, but still apropos today.
Lots more on the stimulus over at Reason.
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Am I the only one who remembers that Ayn Rand died in 1982?
It may seem significant that what Ms. Rand said 30 or 40 years ago applies to today. But I can’t help but mention: it’s 30-40 years later, and the economy continues to thrive despite her predictions of doom.
I view Ayn Rand as having put forward a much-needed perspective that notes the obvious: people who are productive should be respected.
But seriously, what the hell else is here? She wrote this quoted part about 50 years ago. Does she seem "prescient?" Bullshit.
Heh. Well, Ayn mostly predicted doom for the Soviet economy, and quite correctly.
I don’t think anyone needs prescience to predict government would still be trying to stimulate the economy in 2009. I just found it amusing how apropos the introduction was, 47 years later.
As I see it, the government has been working throughout history to stimulate the economy, and guess what? The economy has continued to grow. So, from my perspective, Ms. Rand’s "prescience" isn’t prescient at all. The government DID continue to grow, despite the supposedly foolish policies.
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