There are "up" times and there are "down" times, and they exist with varying effects in every economy: from the individual and the family, to the nation and the world. The "ups" in these various economies inspire predictions and hopes running from the modest to the ridiculous.
Commonly (and perhaps correctly) attributed to Herbert Hoover when he was seeking the presidency of the United States in 1928, was the promise of "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." According to Google, an advertisement appearing in a number of newspapers during that campaign added the conclusion that a "vote for Hoover would be a vote for continued prosperity."
The promise, according to sagacious Google, is ascribed to paid advertisements placed by the Republican National Committee.
Given the good times following World War 1, and the emerging wonder of automobile travel, the prediction - while slightly over-optimistic - probably was accepted as plausible, with an allowance for the sort of over-statement normal and acceptable in democratic election campaigns.
Probably due to the extravagant promises - abetted by the fact that his Democratic opponent, New York Governor Alfred E. Smith, was a Roman Catholic - Hoover won the election handily. Like the legendary best-laid plans of mice and men, his predictions fell victim to Black Friday in late 1929, when the stock market crashed and led soon to a depression that has been described as the most cataclysmic event of the 20th century.
Given the near-decade of joblessness and poverty, many pots in the U.S. and here in Canada did not often see a chicken. Miraculously, however, automobiles proliferated, although this trend slowed down during the war.
Good paved roads to accommodate the machines that replaced the horse and buggy came soon after World War 2. As autos and roads improved, we increasingly rejected trains for long-distance travel, again feeding expansion. Threat of the Cold War provided a reason or an excuse for a massive network of interstate highways that skirted both cities and towns and even Mr. Hoover could not have predicted the auto acquisitions that became general.
However, just as we buy extravagant homes, autos and other appliances and ignore inevitable frailty, we delightedly supported construction of highways, bridges, interchanges and other adjuncts to our travel fever, closing eyes and ears to the constant need for repair, replacement and maintenance.
We had a reminder last year by the collapse of a Quebec City bridge with human fatalities, and in early August, followed by the collapse of another bridge with deadly consequences in Minneapolis. Individually and collectively, we will have to support the needed work on a crumbling infrastructure. Failing this, it is not difficult to imagine breakdowns of cataclysmic proportions. I shudder at the cost and probable pain.
By the way, those chickens have never quite made it to all those empty pots for roosting or roasting. Will they ever?
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