As I have blogged before, Amity Shlaes is a complete pratt, which explains why this was published in the craptacular Washington Post OP/ED pages.

I have no clue as to her basic level of intellect, she could simply be that stupid, or be paid to say these things, but in either case, the effect is the same, that I would not trust her with any implement sharper than a bowling ball.

In this case, she is offering a full throated defense of Phil Gramm’s calling the US a nation of whiners, because people are worrying about the recession.

She offers a number of defenses:

• That there is no recession because GDP grew in the last quarter measured.

Wrong when inflation is put in the measure, even the bogus core CPI that is used.

• That Phil Gramm subsequently said that he meant only politicians.

Again, disengenous at best, he said nation of whiners, and Gramm would never miss an opportunity to go after the now Democratic controlled Congress.

• She claims because people who lost their homes during the depression had only borrowed 10% of their home purchase, while people now borrowed more than 90% of that price.

Again, losing a home is losing a home, and the increased level of leverage is an artifact increases in the price of a home which have been driven upward by policies to “increase home ownership”. Losing your home is losing your home.

• Claiming that unemployment is still at historic lows when anyone who studies unemployment knows that the U3 numbers has been massaged over the past 30 years to near statistical worthlessness.

Of course, as a wingnut, I would expect her to ignore that many of these problems came from legislation that was proposed by Gramm, so her ignoring the context, that the architect of the policies that created this crisis is complaining that we are “whining” about the economy, is part of her job description.