Known for his clear writing, the late economist Irving Fisher might not appreciate that the most important element of a brief Bloomberg Businessweek article about his legacy is buried in the final paragraph.
That paragraph responds to the rest of the article, which details modern-day economists’ efforts to use Fisher’s ideas to fight our current economic woes.
Not everyone thinks Fisher would approve. Lacy Hunt, chief economist at Hoisington Investment Management in Austin, Tex., and a Fisher fan, says the economist ultimately lost faith in active crisis-fighting. He decided that debt-fueled depressions instead should be allowed to “burn out” to avoid government rescues that encourage future financial catastrophes.
In other words, don’t just do something — stand there, a notion Thomas Woods supported during a 2010 Carolina Journal Radio/CarolinaJournal.tv interview:
