The Biggest Bill in History and The Lessons of 193 Essay Example for Free

The Biggest Bill in History and The Lessons of 193 Essay Two articles on the current economic crisis—Pubic Debt: The Biggest Bill in History (The Economist, June 11, 2009) and The Lessons of 1937 (The Economist, June 18, 2009) both list down various points and issues that liken today’s financial crisis to that of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Upon introduction, Romer writes that â€Å"policymakers must learn from the errors that prolonged the Depression (par. 1)†, while Ryder contrasts between â€Å"the right and wrong ways to deal with the rich world’s fiscal mess (par. 1). † The Lessons of 1937 In a guest article, Presidential Economic Adviser Christina Romer describes the barriers that economic recovery had to hurdle in the late 1930’s. She credits this downturn to the â€Å"unfortunate, and largely inadvertent, switch to contractionary fiscal and monetary policy (Romer, par. 3). † Romer stresses the importance of looking at the events of the 1937 Depression and learning from its mistakes. There is a strong urge today to declare victory and the return of fiscal stability at the slightest sign of economic improvement—Romer believes that today’s lawmakers should strongly avoid doing so until the employment rate closely approaches its highest degree. The lessons of the 1930’s should inspire us to â€Å"find constructive ways to respond to the natural pressure to cut back on stimulus (Romer, par. 7). † Public Debt: The Biggest Bill in History Brett Ryder’s opinion piece describes massive public debt as another potential â€Å"cloud†¦on the financial horizon (par. 1). As tax revenues are reduces and more money reserves are spent on bailouts, unemployment benefits and stimulus plans, international governments continue to borrow massive amounts of money. Ryder also writes that whatever damage this borrowing is doing, it is a necessary â€Å"antidote† to the current economic decline (par. 3). Governments should hold off on fiscal tightening until economies are much stronger. Works Cited Romer, Christina. â€Å"The Lessons of 1937. † Economist. com. 18 June 2009. 22 June 2009. http://www. economist. com/businessfinance/displaystory. cfm? story_id=13856176. Ryder, Brett. â€Å"Public Debt: The Biggest Bill in History. † Economist. com. 11 June 2009. 22 June 2009. http://www. economist. com/opinion/displaystory. cfm? story_id=13829461. The (Macro)Economic Crisis: