benjamin friedman

An important and politically significant guide to the Great Depression

By / 12 Comments / 7 January 2018

Summary:  the combination of intense political polarization and a long deep economic downturn has made the events of the Great Depression important again — both as part of both parties’ positioning and for lessons about the appropriate public policy response.  One book has become an rallying point for Republicans, from which they derive their proscriptions …

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“Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq” – it is not too late!

By / 4 Comments / 16 May 2008

This CATO report is worth reading, a developed exposition of things the 4GW community has been saying since 2003.  {Chet Richards explains these things  more fully in his book If We Can Keep It.} “Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq“, Benjamin H. Friedman, Harvey Sapolsky and Christopher Preble, Cato Institute (13 February 2008) — Executive summary: Foreign …

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Why are we fighting in Afghanistan?

By / 25 Comments / 8 October 2009

Summary: a debate about our role in the Afghanistan War, and more generally about the limits of America’s power and military power. As our share of global income declines, this is increasingly the same thing. “Don’t ‘pull an Iraq’ in Afghanistan“, Benjamin H. Friedman, Christian Science Monitor (3 April 2008) — “Massive state-building efforts are …

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