So often discussion of economic policy drifts into "decade talk." Some argue our problems are the result of the 1980s' deregulation binge. Others point to our "irrational exuberance," a term synonymous with the 1990s' stock market boom. At a New York Review of Books panel on the economic crisis Thursday, financial historian and Harvard Business professor Niall Ferguson and Nobel-prize winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman sparred over two other decades: the 1970's and the 1930's.

To have Ferguson explain crisis management, there are two doctors to call upon in a recession: There's Dr. Friedman and there's Dr. Keynes. Unfortunately, to him, one of those docs has medicine that expired long ago.

"It says 1936 on Dr. Keynes' bottle," said Ferguson. The global climate is different today-America is no longer an insular economic entity, and protectionist policies don't have the same applicability that they did 70 years ago, argued Ferguson. "If you want to try the Soviet model, fine," said Ferguson, meeting gasps and hisses from the Krugman-cheering set. "Where were you in the 1970s' when all these great regulations were in place? I don't remember this going too well."

To Krugman, however, this pill could end up making us sick. Instead, we need New Deal-era boldness and aggressive government action. Krugman is the easy one to cheer for. After all, it certainly feels like the 1930s. Public animosity toward the private financial sector is at an all-time high, and we have a president who's easy to trust. Big government rarely finds such a welcome audience.

"All of this high finance has just been destructive," said Krugman. "Deregulation bred bloated finance, which bred more deregulation." The social safety net should be the first priority, he added. And, as Krugman deftly pointed out to the Brit-born Ferguson, "Europeans don't lose their health care when they lose their jobs." When Americans lose their jobs, they "fall into the abyss." When social standards abroad rank far higher than those in the United States, it's difficult to adhere to the same laissez-faire mores.

This doesn't fly with Ferguson, naturally.

"Paul talks in wonderfully national terms, but the world is one economy now," said Ferguson, and a 1930s model of economic recovery looks foolhardy at best.

So, what decade are we about to enter? If it's the 1930s, Krugman's beloved New Deal mores are sorely needed and will flourish. If it's the 1970s, as Ferguson suggests, we're in for a ugly shoes, bad music, and a whole heap of deficit.