Actually, Don, like today's recovery the 30s did have growth... Just not robust as from '41 on... The WPA and CCC were 100% the correct things to do because a.) it gave people hope, b.) we got a lot of infrastructure built c.) it put people to work and d.) it got money into the economy... It was slowly gaining speed when the US entered (not started) WW II which required massive spending...

That is my point... People are arguing that Keyes model is and was wrong but most real economists disagree... It is exactly what we need right now... If the private sector does its part and the public sector does its part that's like two engines pulling rather than one...

Keynesian economics can get *US* out of this rut but you can't go on a cutting spree while using it ot it will fail every time... The Repubs know this and that is why they want as much $$$ out of government ***right now*** as they can get because they want as much unemployement as they can get going into next years elections... They really don't care if if hurts the country... This isn't just an opinion on my part... It's also the view of leading economists, Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman, as well...

B~