Every time someone gets nostalgic for yee olde golden times, remind them that in 1924, 102 years ago, the President's 16-year-old son died from an infection caused by playing tennis without socks. The 1950s were just 30 years later, one generation.
Hence the expression 'sock it to me," Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in.
The medical advances and technology are low-hanging fruit. It is all the cultural stuff that has changed dramatically and hardly has progressed a bit and probably backtracked in any number of ways. Yes yes with improvements for Civil rights and Women's rights. My wife points to Covid and how we dealt with a 'pandemic. ' The Same way we did 100 years ago.
We had potentially better medicine and did not use it.
We were still controlled by kings and princes, but they were called bureaucrats. They wanted to develop a vaccine, so drugs were banned.
For the past twenty-five years we have had a GDP growth rate well below the historic average from 1790 to 2000. If we had just maintained the historic average -- not even being better than the historic average -- we would have a GDP around $40 trillion this year. That would mean an additional $1.7 trillion in revenue to the federal government, and an additional $800 billion for the states revenue. That would mean additional economic activity, more jobs, more consumer spending, more business activity.
That's the difference between rates of growth. And the 1950s is not the best period; it was the 1960s, even on a per capita GDP. John, go back to the Economic Report of 1962 -- Maximum Growth, Maximum Employment, Maximum Purchasing Power. If our economy is not performing to its full capacity it affects our society AND it affects how we conduct our national security strategy.
Excellent article with very thought provoking ideas. Dr. Russ Roberts from Econtalk has commented on his podcast how people today romanticize the past without recognizing the advancements we currently have. He points out, very appropriately, that the internet and free information has revolutionized knowledge. People use to pay thousands of dollars for books that contained information that is now literally free. Additionally, there are free apps (think the Google Suite) that used to be software that costs hundreds of dollars for a license.
Additionally, major retailers like WalMart and Amazon have brought enumerable affordable consumer goods to people who otherwise wouldn't have them. We are living in the best of times and complaining like we are in the dark ages.
"We are living in the best of times and complaining like we are in the dark ages."
Well, economically speaking anyway. The fact that we have masked government agents killing people and kidnapping children out of schools, with no accountability whatsoever, is some dark ages shit.
This piece was an example of cognitive bias. I'm going to have to delete receiving your posts despite enjoying many of the more econometric pieces. There is a difference between intellect and good judgment. Intellect is easy to hire; there are remarkably talented people available that can help solve problems in every field of endeavor. Good judgment is much harder to find. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you but this came across as something much worse then simply cherry picking your facts. You were either being internationally provocative or your just remarkably biased. No, I'm not a registered Democrat.
the central point (I think) is that the nostalgia about a mythical golden age is biased and therefore unnecessarily negative about the present. I am not sure who entertains that nostalgia, but maybe someone does
so are you saying there was a golden age and we've left it behind?
or are you saying the present is worse than people think?
or both?
or something else entirely?
something clearly got under your skin; what was it?
John has gone off the rails on a lot of issues in the last 6 years or so. This isn't one of them. It is patently silly to suggest that living standards have declined unless your utility function consists entirely of owning a home at a young age.
I have always wondered about the impact of indexing and how to vet the value of things that did not used to exist. The progress in medicine is a clear winner, the difference in nostalgia for white people Vs people of color is also notable. But I'm 75 and I do remember, well, not so much the 1950s but the later 1950s, 1960s early and later. And there was something different and better (yes I am WHITE). I do remember elementary school - late 1950s. Most of us were the same. I grew up in suburban Detroit ( Royal Oak). The rich people lived in Grosse Pointe, Birmingham, and Bloomfied Hills. The later two were more distant North Woodward suburbs than Royal Oak. We did not hate or resent wealthier people. Cars were not as good. There were no Japanese cars in America (yet). Our stereos were pathetic, but we loved them, and the music was bonkers good. There was a burst of creativity. Detroit had Motown (successful Black people!!). Race riots came in 1968 or '69. I worked on the assembly line and could pay for my college with my summer's work (trumps 2024 and 2025!!). In terms of the material things, 2024 and 2025 are winners I get it. But the '50s-'60s were simpler times. and culturally superior except for the gender and Whtie things... Oh yes, Happy Days did exist. We were more of ONE NATION and less fragmented, fighting over everything. I do not know what I can see and believe... or read and believe.
What is the value (or loss of value) from that?? I think women and people of color have the strongest reasons to rebel on this theme. I took wood shop and metal shop and I know how to use tools and fix things. 'Girls' got home economics and learned about food and cooking. OK DISCRIMINATORY SEXIST!! but good skills that people are no longer taught. We were sociialized differntly. Not taught to question our sex and mutilate our genitals or adopt grammatically crazed pronouns... See what I mean? What are the negative values in all that?? Oh some people LIKE IT...well choice...Choice can bring confusion. Here's a choice: ABC, NBC, CBS or read a book. 1950. Stay up past midnight and watch the test patterns on your TV. Call a friend if your 'party line' is not busy.
"Pollution in the 1950s was atrocious, especially in those industrial areas so beloved by nostalgic left-wing professors. (I grew up on the south side of Chicago. I remember coal dust that accumulated on anything outside.)" Yes. I grew up in Gary and worked at US Steel Gary works during the summer while I was in college. Office workers dressed in shirt and tie, often brought a second shirt into which they change in the late afternoon. The collar of the first shirt was dirty with steel and coal dust.
I second the comments by Iodine head. I add that it does not help your arguments to take cheap shots, assigning blame or motivations to those you do not know. The logical fallacy of attacking a straw man comes to mind. I’m interested in what you have to say but will not waste my time sorting through snakiness.
I'm no economist, so I'm not here to agree or disagree. I did expect some pushback in the comments, which did not disappoint.
I'm accustomed to people going on about how great the 1970's were which I'm old enough to have experienced as an adult. I find myself explaining to youngsters that with inflation and mortgage interest rates in double digits at the same time and gas lines, it didn't seem that great at the time. I mention that only as an acknowledgment of how influential nostalgia can be.
I do know that I live a much more economically comfortable life than my parents did in the 1950's. This somehow happened despite the fact that I didn't go to college, work in a government or union job or win the lottery. I was fortunate to grasp the concept of frugality and the magic of compounding at a young age. I'm retired now.
The cars in the fifties were injury and death traps. The mortality rate for auto accidents in 1950 was approximately 22 per 100k. in 2024 it was about 13.5 per 100k. Ceteris paribus. Todays cars, trucks and other vehicles are equipped with complete restraints, multiple airbags, GPS and navigation, state of the science tires and wheels, shatter resistant glass and more. The improved technology probably explains the 61% decline in car crash fatalities. BTW. Sam Peltzman , AKA "Seatbelt Sam," hypothesized; when safety measures are implemented, people tend to increase their risky behaviors.
Every time someone gets nostalgic for yee olde golden times, remind them that in 1924, 102 years ago, the President's 16-year-old son died from an infection caused by playing tennis without socks. The 1950s were just 30 years later, one generation.
Hence the expression 'sock it to me," Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in.
The medical advances and technology are low-hanging fruit. It is all the cultural stuff that has changed dramatically and hardly has progressed a bit and probably backtracked in any number of ways. Yes yes with improvements for Civil rights and Women's rights. My wife points to Covid and how we dealt with a 'pandemic. ' The Same way we did 100 years ago.
We had potentially better medicine and did not use it.
We were still controlled by kings and princes, but they were called bureaucrats. They wanted to develop a vaccine, so drugs were banned.
Not even close, John.
For the past twenty-five years we have had a GDP growth rate well below the historic average from 1790 to 2000. If we had just maintained the historic average -- not even being better than the historic average -- we would have a GDP around $40 trillion this year. That would mean an additional $1.7 trillion in revenue to the federal government, and an additional $800 billion for the states revenue. That would mean additional economic activity, more jobs, more consumer spending, more business activity.
That's the difference between rates of growth. And the 1950s is not the best period; it was the 1960s, even on a per capita GDP. John, go back to the Economic Report of 1962 -- Maximum Growth, Maximum Employment, Maximum Purchasing Power. If our economy is not performing to its full capacity it affects our society AND it affects how we conduct our national security strategy.
Excellent article with very thought provoking ideas. Dr. Russ Roberts from Econtalk has commented on his podcast how people today romanticize the past without recognizing the advancements we currently have. He points out, very appropriately, that the internet and free information has revolutionized knowledge. People use to pay thousands of dollars for books that contained information that is now literally free. Additionally, there are free apps (think the Google Suite) that used to be software that costs hundreds of dollars for a license.
Additionally, major retailers like WalMart and Amazon have brought enumerable affordable consumer goods to people who otherwise wouldn't have them. We are living in the best of times and complaining like we are in the dark ages.
"We are living in the best of times and complaining like we are in the dark ages."
Well, economically speaking anyway. The fact that we have masked government agents killing people and kidnapping children out of schools, with no accountability whatsoever, is some dark ages shit.
This piece was an example of cognitive bias. I'm going to have to delete receiving your posts despite enjoying many of the more econometric pieces. There is a difference between intellect and good judgment. Intellect is easy to hire; there are remarkably talented people available that can help solve problems in every field of endeavor. Good judgment is much harder to find. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you but this came across as something much worse then simply cherry picking your facts. You were either being internationally provocative or your just remarkably biased. No, I'm not a registered Democrat.
specifics?
the central point (I think) is that the nostalgia about a mythical golden age is biased and therefore unnecessarily negative about the present. I am not sure who entertains that nostalgia, but maybe someone does
so are you saying there was a golden age and we've left it behind?
or are you saying the present is worse than people think?
or both?
or something else entirely?
something clearly got under your skin; what was it?
You are not a registered Democrat, but on the other hand Mr. Cochrane's employer has an agenda, which Mr. Cochrane has to promote.
John has gone off the rails on a lot of issues in the last 6 years or so. This isn't one of them. It is patently silly to suggest that living standards have declined unless your utility function consists entirely of owning a home at a young age.
I have always wondered about the impact of indexing and how to vet the value of things that did not used to exist. The progress in medicine is a clear winner, the difference in nostalgia for white people Vs people of color is also notable. But I'm 75 and I do remember, well, not so much the 1950s but the later 1950s, 1960s early and later. And there was something different and better (yes I am WHITE). I do remember elementary school - late 1950s. Most of us were the same. I grew up in suburban Detroit ( Royal Oak). The rich people lived in Grosse Pointe, Birmingham, and Bloomfied Hills. The later two were more distant North Woodward suburbs than Royal Oak. We did not hate or resent wealthier people. Cars were not as good. There were no Japanese cars in America (yet). Our stereos were pathetic, but we loved them, and the music was bonkers good. There was a burst of creativity. Detroit had Motown (successful Black people!!). Race riots came in 1968 or '69. I worked on the assembly line and could pay for my college with my summer's work (trumps 2024 and 2025!!). In terms of the material things, 2024 and 2025 are winners I get it. But the '50s-'60s were simpler times. and culturally superior except for the gender and Whtie things... Oh yes, Happy Days did exist. We were more of ONE NATION and less fragmented, fighting over everything. I do not know what I can see and believe... or read and believe.
What is the value (or loss of value) from that?? I think women and people of color have the strongest reasons to rebel on this theme. I took wood shop and metal shop and I know how to use tools and fix things. 'Girls' got home economics and learned about food and cooking. OK DISCRIMINATORY SEXIST!! but good skills that people are no longer taught. We were sociialized differntly. Not taught to question our sex and mutilate our genitals or adopt grammatically crazed pronouns... See what I mean? What are the negative values in all that?? Oh some people LIKE IT...well choice...Choice can bring confusion. Here's a choice: ABC, NBC, CBS or read a book. 1950. Stay up past midnight and watch the test patterns on your TV. Call a friend if your 'party line' is not busy.
So. If going back isn't so great how on earth are we going to make America great....AGAIN?! Just what year or time frame is the target??
It's almost as if stupid political slogans have truth in neither premise nor conclusion.
"Pollution in the 1950s was atrocious, especially in those industrial areas so beloved by nostalgic left-wing professors. (I grew up on the south side of Chicago. I remember coal dust that accumulated on anything outside.)" Yes. I grew up in Gary and worked at US Steel Gary works during the summer while I was in college. Office workers dressed in shirt and tie, often brought a second shirt into which they change in the late afternoon. The collar of the first shirt was dirty with steel and coal dust.
I second the comments by Iodine head. I add that it does not help your arguments to take cheap shots, assigning blame or motivations to those you do not know. The logical fallacy of attacking a straw man comes to mind. I’m interested in what you have to say but will not waste my time sorting through snakiness.
I'm no economist, so I'm not here to agree or disagree. I did expect some pushback in the comments, which did not disappoint.
I'm accustomed to people going on about how great the 1970's were which I'm old enough to have experienced as an adult. I find myself explaining to youngsters that with inflation and mortgage interest rates in double digits at the same time and gas lines, it didn't seem that great at the time. I mention that only as an acknowledgment of how influential nostalgia can be.
I do know that I live a much more economically comfortable life than my parents did in the 1950's. This somehow happened despite the fact that I didn't go to college, work in a government or union job or win the lottery. I was fortunate to grasp the concept of frugality and the magic of compounding at a young age. I'm retired now.
The cars in the fifties were injury and death traps. The mortality rate for auto accidents in 1950 was approximately 22 per 100k. in 2024 it was about 13.5 per 100k. Ceteris paribus. Todays cars, trucks and other vehicles are equipped with complete restraints, multiple airbags, GPS and navigation, state of the science tires and wheels, shatter resistant glass and more. The improved technology probably explains the 61% decline in car crash fatalities. BTW. Sam Peltzman , AKA "Seatbelt Sam," hypothesized; when safety measures are implemented, people tend to increase their risky behaviors.