Aug 17, 2004

Stagflation - Not Just a Great Porn Title

by Liberty and Power

If we are returning to an era of stagflation as this WSJ piece suggests who would be the better president to deal with it?

I pose this question with two caveats. First, I'm continuing in my recent efforts to try to find a decent case for libertarians and conservatives to vote for Dubya on the potential of the second term. Second, I also strongly support the idea that the government should do way less meddling in the economy.

However given the realities of today - who would you want, Kerry or Bush? First off, I think inflation is the far more serious problem. Second, I think that Greenspan has been decent as a central banker. But suppose he were to step down, after all he is not a young guy.

Bush is clearly not a fiscal conservative, but neither is Kerry. Kerry with a GOP Congress might be better fiscally, but suppose he had to nominate a new Fed Chairman during a period of stagflation. Would he choose someone in the Volker mold to stamp out inflation and do the right thing? I'd make the case that Bush might be the safer choice, but would appreciate the thoughts of others in the group.