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Great Myths of the Great Depression
By
Mr. Lawrence W. Reed
/ Posted: Jan. 1, 1998
Revised September 2005
Students today are often given a skewed account of the Great Depression of 1929-1941 that condemns free-market capitalism as the cause of, and promotes government intervention as the solution to, the economic hardships of the era. In this essay based on a popular lecture, Mackinac Center for Public Policy President Lawrence Reed debunks the conventional view and traces the central role that poor government policy played in fostering this legendary catastrophe.
Contents
Introduction
A Modern Fairy Tale
The Great, Great, Great, Great Depression
Phase I: The Business Cycle
Central Planners Fail at Monetary Policy
The Bottom Drops Out
Buddy, Can You Spare $40 Million?
Phase II: Disintegration of the World Economy
"The greatest spending administration in all of history"
You Tax Me, I Tax You
Free Markets or Free Lunches?
Phase III: The New Deal
"Nothing to fear but fear itself"
New Dealing From the Bottom of the Deck
Blue Eagles, Red Ducks
The Alphabet Commissars
"An astonishing rabble of impudent nobodies"
Signs of Life
Phase IV: The Wagner Act
An Unfriendly Climate for Business
Whither Free Enterprise
Endnotes
SKU: SP1998-01
Category:
Economic History
Publication:
General Article
Next page:
Introduction
Download PDF of the entire publication
More by Mr. Lawrence W. Reed
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A Trillion Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
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