the US government- congress and the big wall street firms working in collusion to create bubbles ie housing etc. which could not be sustained.
Keynesian economics can probably work well, but there is not a goverment on earth that is disciplined enough to manage this process efficiently and effectively. I don't think Keynes would advocated spending like madmen during the good times, to the point where deficits are unmanagable. Now that we've hit a rough patch, it's like Keynes on crack. Excessive anything is bad, and I'd say that nobody would argue that we've had excessive Keynes.
The first 3 choices probably deserve most of the blame. Here you have bankers and financiers who in a sane world have made a career of managing money and instead what happens is they piss it down the toilet. Maybe the educational institutions that instructed the grads that go into these companies deserve blame too. What on earth do they do at those financial institutions? Michael Lewis shows most of them, whatever their grades and no matter how natively smart they are, and I do suspect quite a few of the employees are smart, don't have a freaking clue. Keynesian economics was being used by the Republicans? Keynesian economics was specifically developed by Keynes to address a specific case: The Great Depression. Application of his ideas during inflationary or non-recessionary times is like using a fan to melt ice. So you are right. It's silly to criticize Keynesian economics when it hasn't been in much use until now.
I agree, the Academics could be the start of the Blame game. Advance degreed individuals were in charge of all the Failed Banks and Mortgage Companies. So, IMHO, a MBA is worthless when it comes to proving you have ethics and morals. However, it is a Master in Business, not a Masters in Ethics. So, what do you expect? Capitlism has all ways had its bad apples, will all ways have them. To use the current climate to justify Socalism, or Communism is a smart idea, because Sheeople will buy in to those theories. Freedom comes with a price. Being Free is not a easy task and the majority of the Sheepole want to escape from Freedom. They want "Paternalism" and "Socialism". They agree to surrender their Freedom and then later on, understand that Slavery is worse than Freedom. The world is heading towards "Surfdom". Nations and their people want slavery. The current economic situation re-enforces their wants because the Masses are fucking stupid and do not understand, Freedom, Capitalism, or Financial Markets. So, let the majority join the OBAMA NATION. Let socialism ring. Let the sheeople be led to the slaughter. I will continue to be free, make a boat load of money until it effects me. By then, I will have the 'Freedom" to travel anywhere and do anything. That is true freedom. The World will not be able to control 100% of the population. And if it does, I will be on the side of the "Revolution'.
Academics and MBA colleges are like hollywood movies where everything is set-up & the actors know what will happen next & they are in complete control. They will shoot the same sequence 100 times till it gives a perfect shot. But real world is a frightening jungle/forest where nobody knows what will happen next. No amount of training can prepare a person for the real world. There is no second chance in real world. Even the Military training cannot prepare an army man for real world wars. Military training is a video game when compared to real world battles/wars.
Now, Germany has suffered the biggest economic loss among European countries because Germany is a export-powerhouse. Russia is also suffering high economic loss & Russia is angry with USA because of Georgia war. Both Russia & Germany are dangerous and both have bitter memories of USA past history. The situation in India & Pakistan is "highly serious" and it can explode into a full-scale war anytime. Taleban & Al-Qaeda is always planning to strike USA & Europe in a bigger way than 9/11 attacks. The on-going Israel-Palestine war is bringing Islamic world together. So there is no guarantee whether the world will see December 31, 2009