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| "history doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme" (Attributed to Mark Twain, but probably from someone else)
The article talks about debt in the 20s - can anyone argue that it isn't much worse now? Debt is poison. Even the Old Testament talks about it. This has been known forever, it seems. Most of the money created today is created by issuing credit. The bankers love it, as they can create money out of thin air and profit from it. The borrowers love it, as they can live like they think they are entitled to live. In the end, however, it is never sustainable. It can never be "paid back."
Also, the article talks about concentration of wealth. It is also poisonous. Most of us know well why the policies of the Left lead to depression, but, IMHO, the policies of the Right lead to the same place - a lack of opportunity for most of us. Dealing with this concentration of wealth leads to depression, and not dealing with it leads to depression. The one thing we can be sure of is that everything cycles.
In the last year, I read Hoover's memoirs. This past week, I've been enjoying watching Ken Burns' seven part series about the Teddy and FDR. I also remember reading an interview with Peter Drucker about fourteen years ago (or so), where he claimed that the (at least the worst of the) Depression did not have to happen. Hoover and FDR hated each other so much that neither would talk to the other, and it was the time just before FDR took the oath of office when all the banks failed. This, according to Drucker (quoting the then Fed chairman), could have easily been avoided.
Who would argue that today, the conditions are not worse than the conditions just prior to the 30s? It has been shown that a cyclic correction can be put off, but it has not been shown, IMHO, that it can be put off indefinitely. Take away all the government safety nets, and what would our country look like today? The question is, however, with what we are doing, can we say with any certainty that we are on a sustainable path? IMHO, the cycle low is necessary - and just waiting for the right opportunity. Probably anything being done to avoid it will just make it worse when it does come.
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Reserve currency
