Shiller backs Abe and Roosevelt… what’s Merkel say on that?

As you may know, Mr. Abe’s politics followed a Keynesian current, and they worked –according to Mr. Shiller- because he managed to encourage the appetite for risk, the entrepreneurial spirit… in short: the “animal spirits.”

Mr. Shiller even defends the reinvigoration of the national spirit, of a certain patriotism that Mr. Abe has been able to transmit. He also says that, even though the reinvigoration of the optimism should be tried in those countries that are well below the waterline, it can’t be applied in all cases.

Let’s think about Europe, Spain and what should be done so as to restore confidence to the major economic actors: investors. Shinzo Abe didn’t say to Japanese citizens “hey, get up and walk.” On the contrary, he made a commitment: to finish off deflation and to create positive inflation by means of an expansive policy through the Bank of Japan and a public expending policy that reinforces the confidence in his decision.

To tell you the truth, Mr. Abe wasn’t that original: he did the same that Franlin Delano Roosevelt back in the 30s but without using mathematics! We surely don’t have the same levers as Japan or as the US in the 30s. We can only try to fool the investors with similar tales as those that the Spanish government tells.

We don’t have patriotic rulers as Mr. Abe either, rulers that only constitute a demoralization source. Our government only knows to postpone the problems in order to see whether they can be solved by themselves. The common currency prevents us from fighting inflation –another source of mistrust.

 

About the Author

Miguel Navascués
Miguel Navascués has worked as an economist at the Bank of Spain for 30 years, and focuses on international and monetary economics. He blogs in Spanish at: http://http://www.miguelnavascues.com/

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