“ Economies boom and bust. Inflation rises and falls. Unemployment increases and decreases. But generally speaking, nation-states don’t tend to cycle back and forth between autocracy and democracy.”

They did pretty well before Biden came in and started signing executive orders eliminating what Trump did.
All of those things are a direct result of policies.

@CourtJester You didn’t answer my question. What’s more important: A healthy economy or a healthy democracy?

@NostraDumbass
They are 100% linked. You can’t have one without the other. That’s why the economy was so good under President Trump.

@CourtJester China has a healthy economy. And very little democracy. Nazi Germany had a very strong economy amidst the destruction of its democracy. So you are 100% wrong. You can have one without the other. You also fail to distinguish between the Wall Street Economy which primarily benefits plutocrats (that’s the Trumpian economy) and the Main Street Economy (which benefits ordinary people). So any “good times” that did exist under Trump was only benefiting the elites anyway. Read “Third World America” by Arianna Huffington in order to learn about the dark side of Reaganomics and Trumponomics.

@NostraDumbass

I take it you haven’t taken an economics class in you life.
Germany’s economy was in shambles after their first year of stupidity. The war was the only thing supporting their economy. China is also 100% dependent on the US and Europe. If China was shut off, the US and Europe might skip a beat for a week, but we’d go on. China is dependent on the U.S. and Europe to make about 85% of their money. I wouldn’t call that a strong economy.

@CourtJester Studying economics is like studying religion. There are a host of competing theories and philosophies, many at odds with each other. What’s considered to be true by one group may be blasphemy to the other. For example, if you’re lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family, then laissez-faire capitalism is best. If you’re born into poverty, then a mixed economy or socialism is superior. These biases also influence the interpreting and even WRITING AND TEACHING of history. Regardless, your comment about Hitler puzzled me, because you’ve sung his praises in the past regarding “making the trains run on time”. Sounds like you’re trying to have it both ways.