Once you go ad hominem my friend, you demonstrate that you are out of ammo, can't defend your position, and lose the debate.
My attack isn't based upon irrelevent facts. It's based upon the fact that you're spouting opinions without a single refernce to back up anything that you say. You've said nothing specific, just generalities. Let me see a reference to anything you've said. I lose the debate? Dream on.
Here's your whole argument
"I think too Stans probably ought to read a different history re Germany's recovery from the Great Depression. It was not the rosy picture he seems to think it was." and then you said absolutely nothing about Germany's Great Depression recovery again. All that you have is your opinion without any substantiating reference or argument that describes Germany's economic condition at that time.
There is nothing to say other than the Great Depression created such hard times in Germany and created such discord in the German government, that it provided the foothold that Hitler needed to rise to power. Perhaps you want to suggest that the USA needs a Hitler to get out of the current recession? I doubt you would suggest that. But if you read the honest history, you will see that this is the way it went.
I get most of my understanding of history from history books as too many internet sites are skewed are flawed. But here's a pretty decent mini history of those events:
The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Great Depression Begins
Hitler rose to power in January 1933. Keynesian policies didn't start till AFTER he came into power, a few months later iirc.
That's your suggestion, not mine. Perhaps you want to suggest it.
Now the meat of my reply. You might want to review your history book a bit more carefully.
[John Kenneth Galbraith, wrote: “… The elimination of unemployment in Germany during the Great Depression without inflation -- and with initial reliance on essential civilian activities -- was a signal accomplishment.” -- and “large scale borrowing for public expenditures, and at first this was principally for civilian work -- railroads, canals and the Autobahnen [highway network]. The result was a far more effective attack on unemployment than in any other industrial country.” “By late 1935, unemployment was at an end in Germany./1
1. J. K. Galbraith, Money (Boston: 1975), pp. 225-226
Germany, by the late thirties, had full employment at stable prices. It was, in the industrial world, an absolutely unique achievement.” / 2]
2. J. K. Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty (1977), pp. 214.
[Sebastian Haffner, an influential German journalist and historian who was a fierce critic of the Third Reich and its ideology, reviewed Hitler’s life and legacy in a much-discussed book. Although his portrayal of Hitler in The Meaning of Hitler is a harsh one, the author all the same wrote: Hitler and his new government “immediately launched an all-out assault on unemployment … They stimulated private industry through subsidies and tax rebates, encouraged consumer spending by such means as marriage loans, and plunged into the massive public-works program that produced the autobahn [highway system], and housing, railroad and navigation projects.” / 6]
[ The regime’s new leaders also succeeded in persuading formerly skeptical and even hostile Germans of their sincerity, resolve, and ability. This fostered trust and confidence, which in turn encouraged businessmen to hire and invest, and consumers to spend with an eye to the future./6]
6. John A. Garraty, “The New Deal, National Socialism, and the Great Depression,” The American Historical Review, Oct. 1973 (Vol. 78, No. 4), pp. 909-910
“Among the positive achievements of Hitler, the one outshining all others was his economic miracle.” While the rest of the world was still mired in the economic paralysis, Hitler had made “Germany an island of prosperity.” Within three years, “crying need and mass hardship had generally turned into modest but comfortable prosperity” Even more miraculous was the fact that the transition from depression to economic boom had been accomplished without inflation, at totally stable wages and prices./45]
45. S. Haffner, The Meaning of Hitler (New York: Macmillan, 1979), pp. 27-29. First published in 1978 under the title Anmerkungen zu Hitler. See also: M. Weber, “Sebastian Haffner's 1942 Call for Mass Murder,” The Journal of Historical Review, Fall 1983 (Vol. 4, No. 3), pp. 380-382.
These quotes were taken from an article by Mark Weber, a historian at the Institute for Historical Review. The article is entitled
How Hitler Tackled Unemployment and Revived Germany's Economy.
