"Once more unto the breach..." (Redux)

Around the blogosphere, some of the usual suspects are referencing the WWII “boom” as conclusive evidence in favor of implementing Keynesian fiscal stimulus measures right now. Which strikes me as a totally misleading narrative. The sequence of the war was more like this…rationing and hard times, many people killed, and that condition persisting for as long as the war did. It was only after the war, and when government got out of the way, that life started to improve again.