Between 1951 and 1955 only one of what was to become the G7 countries –
the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy and Britain – ran
a government budget deficit. Between 1961 and 1965 every single one did
so (Mueller 2003: 464–5). Such was the difference made by Keynesianism.
As the economic recession in the 1970s was eventually to prove, the
economic costs of vote-maximizing Keynesianism were severe. For politicians
seeking re-election in the 1960s these costs were, however, beyond their
political horizon. Self-interested politicians have reason to care about what
happens in the next election and, perhaps, the one after that. They have no
self-interested reason to weigh the short-term benefits of more votes against
the long-term costs of eventual recession.