Argentine Historian Urges Look to FDR’s New Deal for Solutions, Since Neo-Liberalism Is Dead

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The reality is that the pandemic “is closely linked to the advance of neo-liberal economic globalization which rapidly multiplied the effects of the new disease to all corners of the globe.” It’s at times of global crisis like this one, he continues, that “nation-states become fundamental actors. We need to examine history, not only Argentina’s, to find the solutions to other crises, pandemics and wars

Argentine Historian Urges Look to FDR’s New Deal for Solutions, Since Neo-Liberalism Is Dead

April 20 (EIRNS)—In an opinion piece in the April 19 daily Página 12, Argentine historian Mario Rapoport proposed that in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and the disastrous state of the nation’s economy left by former neo-liberal President Mauricio Macri, Argentina would do well to adopt a reconstruction program similar to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Although the task might seem monumental, he argues, the current situation requires “immediate and bold measures.”

Rapoport points out that the appropriate answer to those neo-liberal economists who are demanding a rapid exit from quarantine to retake the “path of economic growth,” is to “ask ourselves what ‘path’ they’re proposing.” The reality is that the pandemic “is closely linked to the advance of neo-liberal economic globalization which rapidly multiplied the effects of the new disease to all corners of the globe.” It’s at times of global crisis like this one, he continues, that “nation-states become fundamental actors. We need to examine history, not only Argentina’s, to find the solutions to other crises, pandemics and wars.”

In this context, he details the key aspects of the New Deal, describing the measures FDR took against the banks, and to foster growth in production and consumption and, above all, to get people back to work. Pointing to what happens when concentrated financial interests replace the role of the state, Rapoport cites FDR’s April 28, 1935, “Fireside Chat” warning of “holding company domination” in the public utility sector. “When the government is absent from such entities, they lose touch with and the solidarity of communities they supposedly serve,” Rapoport explained.

No government should count on international lending agencies for help in this crisis, the historian concludes. The great powers themselves are highly indebted and looking to be rescued. Neo-liberalism’s solution is “scorched earth…. They’ve done it in the past, and this is the worst scenario” if adopted now. But, he goes on, “there is another [solution], the resurgence of nation-states as fundamental actors of a new world order.”

Source: https://larouchepub.com/

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