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knb comments on Open Thread, May 19 - 25, 2014 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I think you're reading way too much into Krugman's argument. I don't read Krugman as trying to imply that living standards rose during WWII. He doesn't even mention living standards. When economists talk about ending a recession or ending a depression, they mean something technical. Krugman was just talking about increased production and lowered unemployment, etc.
Frankly it seems bizarre to me that anyone would believe that crashing consumer spending + mass shortages = better living standards. It is fair to say that people had a better attitude about their economic deprivation, since it had a patriotic purpose in serving the war effort.
I think it's clear that you know more about what economists mean than I do, but when the typical person hears that a depression is ending, they imagine people being happier than they were before. I'm not really claiming that anyone thinks that crashing consumer spending + mass shortages = better living standards, just that the average Joe in the US hears about the depression ending and not about those negative things.
Anyway, not sure what point I'm trying to make since I think you already know what I'm saying.