A Lesson in Conservative Economics

Few in America would have imagined a time when Democrats and other Liberals would teach Republicans and other Conservatives the economic realities of capitalism. But on this topic, something said by MSNBC’s Morning Joe host, Joe Scarborough, today caught our ear once again.

Said Mr. Scarborough, “If we're going to invest in new technology, that's one thing. But roads and bridges: that's last century.”

The Allusion Here Apparently referred to various economic-stimulus programs enacted under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in the form of job-creating, infrastructure-producing programs such as the WPA and the CCC, back in the days of the Great Depression.

Some Might Find It Ironic that Conservative Republicans would so-readily reject this particular time-proven method of the last century. But with Mr. Scarborough now on record as dismissing the viability of this remedial option, an extremely brief analysis of those New Deal programs—the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)—may be in order.

Especially Now That We Seem to Be Wading through such another Republican-led, “last century”-type of swamp.

Here Is a View on the CCC Contrary to Mr. Scarborough’s “roads and bridges” argument, taken from a history of America’s national parks:

“While the CCC is no longer around, we have all felt its impact. We have driven past its camps, its fire lookouts, its bridges. The sweat and toil of more than 3,000,000 young men is now embodied in CCC-built facilities stretching from Maine to California. The federal government spent more than $3 billion on the CCC, and its investment is still bearing fruit every time people visit parks such as Great Smoky, Yellowstone, Mount Rainer, or hike the Appalachian Trail.”

(from “The Spirit of the Civilian Conservation Corps,” which may be found at: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2008/09/park-history-spirit-civilian-cnservation-corps)

The Legacy of These Parks and Buildings testifies to the frugal American sensibility. Anyone driving across our beautiful nation witnesses the combination of durability and attractiveness displayed in countless WPA projects and CCC structures—built through the “New Deal” as part of FDR’s cure for the Great Depression. They represent a substantial portion of the physical national infrastructure that serves us still, more than seven decades later.

How Would One Calculate the combined value of the residual American infrastructure? It’s certainly beyond our economics ability.

One Thing the Recent Past Has Taught Us, though, is that when the world places bets—on top of bets—on top of bets—on top of bets—to the extent that those bets overwhelm the value of the underlying pieces of paper (such as the net worth of Iceland)—it’s a good time to have something around that is more-substantial than “investment-grade” paper. Something like roads and bridges.

Each Road and Bridge and School Gym and National-Park Structure built during those difficult times has freed up investment capital. This freed capital has contributed to the tremendous great economic growth that we have enjoyed for the last sixty-five years.

When a Nation Thinks Only of Today, whether in terms of financial infrastructure or in terms of Islamist terrorists, the shortsighted results lead to economic disaster.

“Go out and Shop,” Said Small-Government President George W. Bush.

“Invest for the Future,” Is What Tax-and-Spend President FDR Said.

History Seems to Judge the differences for us—right now. And who would have imagined it, during these interesting times?