D-Day and deficits

Today is the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy. June 6, 1944 was a day of unbelievable self sacrifice and devotion in the name of democracy. The iconic image of American GI's charging fearlessly into the salty spray of Atlantic sea water and German bullets always makes me question if I, or anyone else I know, would ever have the courage to make such a sacrifice. I find it difficult to ever answer "yes" to that question, especially in this era where self-sacrifice in the name of larger human cause is often denounced as socialism. Thankfully for the most part, it seems that Americans back in 1944 had no such qualms about service to their country. 

But what is rarely mentioned is the dry, bureaucratic work that went on behind the scenes, which managed the unprecedented mobilization of resources that made such an invasion possible. The bold leadership of men like Federal Reserve Chairman Marriner Eccles  played a crucial role in the military success of the United States. In countless letters, speeches, and testimonies before a confused Congress, Eccles calmly and clearly explained how in a post-gold standard world, the only thing standing in the way of total victory for democracy was real resources. Mr. Eccles' insistence that leaders in Washington focus on the real production capacities and constraints of the US economy, and not on the book entries known as "money", undoubtedly gave the US an advantage it had never before enjoyed. Emancipation from the gold standard and fixed money thinking, of which Eccles was a leader, deserves at least some credit for the emancipation of Europe from fascist occupation. Finally freed from self-imposed financial constraints, this new, functional approach to public finance allowed the allies to produce a war machine of unprecedented size and strength. Had the United States remained on a gold standard, and not had thought leadership from men like Eccles to clear out this old thinking, its hard to see how the massive deficit spending and resource mobilization during the war would have been possible. 

The military buildup before and during WWII was a massive, unprecedented mobilization of resources, which was almost completely managed and funded by the federal government. This war produced two types of massive debts-- one which we can never pay off, and another which takes only keystrokes.What I would give to go back to that spirit of the New Deal- a time when this country was fighting and dying and putting all of our resources on the line to defend democracy. We had incredible leadership, incredible sacrifice, and we smashed the Germans and Japanese in less than four years! That's why I get so angry when I hear Republicans saying “ we cant have a high speed rail system in America" or "we cant have universal health care in America", or "we cant have a green energy revolution in America”. This makes me think that its a damn good thing these people weren't around during WWII. Things looked so bad in 1941 that I might have been easy to say "the Axis is too powerful, we can't afford to take them on." But we did! We knew that we were Americans, and that we were firmly in control of our own destinies, and we made amazing things happen. Thats the spirit that this country desperately needs to return to. If a bunch of 20-somethings back in 1944 could charge headfirst into open German machine gun fire, surely its not too much to ask today's Americans to open their minds to the realities of modern public finance.