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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam who wrote (7311)	11/12/1998 11:37:00 PM
From: Frodo Baxter	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9980

So dude, I read the Triumph of Politics, How the Reagan Revolution Failed, by David Stockman, as per your prescription (from the library, no less!). It was good. It's funny how a bleeding heart neoKeynesian like you <g> would so heartily recommend a book by an unabashed hard money supply sider. I found it thoroughly breathtaking, but then I would, as it was basically a wonk's eye view of the budget, politics, and economics and the problematic reconciliation of ideology and governance. Unfortunately, because Stockman couldn't predict the future any better than the rest of us, he drew some conclusions, that in hindsight, are inept. Namely, a) the administration erred in not raising taxes during a recession (cf. Japan for proof), b) that budget deficits mattered, c) that the prosperity of the moment would soon end, and most importantly d) that we couldn't grow out of the deficit. >Stockman relates that not only were all of Reagan's speeches written for him, but that before each speech, a handler would drop flat rubber "feet" on the stage leading to and from the podium, which showed Reagan where he should walk to enter and exit. Reagan was following in other people's footsteps. He was always a genial, grandfatherly tool. Your imagination must have gotten the better of you. This book says nothing of the sort. What I especially appreciated was that Stockman pulled no punches. Very few people came out unscathed... they are Alan Greenspan, Phil Gramm, Larry Kudlow, James Baker, Richard Darman, Howard Baker, Bob Dole, Pete Dominici, and Bob Michel. Everybody else was gutless, venal, demagogic, pork-pushing, stupid, or some combination of the above. In short, they were politicians.