Judge Posner: We're Doomed

When long ago I clerked for a federal judge, my co-clerk would be reading an opinion by Judge Posner and say “I love the elegant way he explains why you have no rights.” Well, he is at it again. He has just written an explanation for the current economic doldrums (he calls it a depression) and posits no solution.

Now Judge Posner is one of the smartest men in the federal judiciary. He is always to be read with interest. But he is a gloomy fellow. Public policies willfully chosen created much of the budget deficit. Public policies willfully chosen socialized the down side risk in housing, banking and even auto making, but allowed the profits to go to the winners. Public policies willfully chosen depress energy exploration, employment, and investing capital in America. A change in such policies would ameliorate if not reverse the trends he so ably identifies.

Loathe as I am to quote Keynes, if the “animal spirits” revive there is no telling what type of growth America can sustain.