
Highway to Hitler [pdf] - dalek2point3
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/nico.v/Research/Highway_to_Hitler.pdf
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bryanlarsen
Trump is either going to be a Reagan, a Schwarzenegger, a Berlusconi, or a
Mussolini.[1]

Anybody suggesting a Hitler outcome is being patently ridiculous. The
Berlusconi or Mussolini outcomes are bad enough.

1: [http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/11/a-schwarzenegger-a-
be...](http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/11/a-schwarzenegger-a-berlusconi-
or-a-mussolini.html)

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carsongross
Well well well:

[http://starecat.com/content/wp-content/uploads/well-well-
wel...](http://starecat.com/content/wp-content/uploads/well-well-well-donald-
trump-drinking-water-adolf-hitler.jpg)

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dalek2point3
seems like Trump is already following in illustrious footsteps. Guess who else
really cared about building highways?

~~~
api
I've heard this called "weaponized Keynesianism." The use of Keynesian here is
somewhat off-base since this is nothing like what Keynes advocated, so a
better term would be "politically weaponized stimulus."

In its strongest conspiratorial form it would consist of backing austerity
policies until one's party or figurehead wins power, and then abruptly going
spending happy. This creates the illusion of a sudden dramatic turnaround in
the economy. The more opportunistic form would be to take power in a severely
demand constrained economy and then go all-in on stimulus on a massive scale
while being sure to claim credit for oneself or one's party rather than for
the specific policy of stimulus (which is easy and any party could do).

AFIAK both the Nazis and the Soviets did this, among others, and perma-
stimulus is also how the Chinese Communist Party has held onto power.

We are in a _severely_ demand-constrained economy, so we certainly have a
golden opportunity for someone to work a miracle with the Federal checkbook
and then claim credit and use it to solidify their power. A friend of mine has
called this Weimar America, and I really hope he's wrong.

