I was thinking about the problem Republicans have with the economic effect of cutting capital gains taxes (wait, it gets more exciting soon). The basic effect is an oversupply of venture capital, which leads to a bubble -- the stock market bubble in the 20s, the tech bubble in the 90s, and the housing bubble in this decade. The bubble eventually bursts, and unless the rest of fiscal and monetary policy is sound, the economy is in trouble.

The key, it seemed to me, was to get rid of the oversupply of goods produced by putting all that venture capital to work. (Keep waiting; I'm getting close.) And what more obvious way to rid ourselves of excess goods than by war? War, after all, creates a constant demand for goods, which can be used to balance the excess supply, thus preventing the bubble that eventually bursts.

Then the light bulb went on (here it is) -- I wasn't the first to think of this. This theory was expressed fifty years ago in Orwell's classic book, 1984. I actually haven't read the book in at least 25 years, but the "writings of Emmanuel Goldstein" made such an impression 'way back when that they have stuck with me all those years.