In the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt created a raft of government programs and projects designed to revive the economy and increase employment, but between 1934 and 1940, unemployment never dipped below 14.3 percent, and the median annual rate was 17.2 percent. Yet politically, Roosevelt succeeded by creating the impression that somebody was doing something about the crisis. That’s a similar phenomenon to what’s happening today. The central argument in favor of the stimulus among its proponents is not over the merits of the particular legislation, but simply that we have to do something to revive the economy and that the crisis requires action. Psychologically, this reminds me of the man who is impatiently waiting for the elevator, and who continuously presses the already-lit elevator button even though he knows it won’t make the elevator come any faster.
