Crisis as a Policy Window

Just as we were discussing the role of crisis as a "policy window," The Wall Street Journal confirmed the point:

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, speaking to a Wall Street Journal conclave of business leaders Tuesday, said the economic crisis facing the country is "an opportunity to do things you could not do before."

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Mr. Emanuel said.

Obama advisers said difficult times necessitate extraordinary measures. "We are in the midst of a massive reorganization right now in autos but also other areas as well -- finance, information technology. All of this flows into...the new green energy economy we are living in, albeit in an embryonic stage," said former Rep. David Bonior, an Obama economic adviser and proponent of a more interventionist industrial policy in the 1980s. Asked if this was the industrial policy of the incoming Obama administration, he replied: "The answer is yes."