The Convesrion Of David Mamet

In an interview of David Mamet the interviewer is discussing David's reading habits when it comes to economics. As an aside the reviewer notes:

Later in our conversation, I ask whether he had read any economics before and he says not—he typically gets absorbed in a collection of books relating to his current play for two years at a time before moving on. I wonder what might have happened if he had picked up John Maynard Keynes instead of Friedman.

We do know what happened - 9 to 20% unemployment (depending on how you count) and a double dip recession. The economic multiplier effect for government spending is probably on the order of .5 (Spanish spending on $Green Energy) to .8 (US Government spending on WW2). So government spending REDUCES economic output.

It is good that Mamet was not overly influenced by Keynes.

But he is influenced by Sarah Palin.

So who would he prefer as president? He replies that he is "not current" with the Republican contenders until I mention Sarah Palin. "I am crazy about her," he answers immediately. "Would she make a good candidate for president? I don't know but she seems to have succeeded at everything she put her hand to."

Mamet compares Palin to a late friend in Cabot, Vt., where he owns a "little cabin in the woods ... I like to hunt. I like to fish. Cross-country ski. It's in the middle of absolute nowhere. A dirt-track road, a 200-year-old post-and-beam house. Gorgeous." His friend, he continues, was "a hardworking guy, a man of honor who was looking out for the town's interests. I thought of him when I saw Sarah Palin. She started with the PTA and then became the mayor and then governor [of Alaska]. I thought, well, OK. That's someone who knows how to work."

Well I like Sarah too. And the fact that my old friend likes her is just a plus.

Cross Posted at Classical Values