Ping!
And it's been that way ever since, despite the poor track record.
Ping
I haven’t looked at the video yet but I think you need to reconsider the facts behind your narrative. First off, Wilson was still President in 1920, Warren Harding was elected in 11/20 with inauguration in 3/21. Wilson was the president who had the stroke and his wife isolated him from all advisors who were pressing for decisions. Thomas Woods is cited in the Wikipedia article on this subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depression_of_1920%E2%80%9321
Excerpt:
Government response
President Woodrow Wilson’s slow response to the depression was criticized by those in the Republican party, catapulting them into the White House under the banner of Warren Harding. Once in office, he convened a President’s Conference on Unemployment at the instigation of then Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover as a result of rising unemployment during the recession. About 300 eminent members of industry, banking and labor were called together in September 1921 to discuss the problem of unemployment. Hoover organized the economic conference and a committee on unemployment. The committee established a branch in every state having substantial unemployment, along with sub-branches in local communities and mayors’ emergency committees in 31 cities. The committee contributed relief to the unemployed, and also organized collaboration between the local and federal governments. President Warren G. Harding signed the Emergency Tariff of 1921 and the Fordney–McCumber Tariff.
However, by the time Harding had called his conference, the country’s economy had already shown signs of rebound, and merely allowed for President Harding to claim success.
Interpretations of the end
Some economists and historians argue that the 1921 recession was a necessary market correction, required to engineer the massive realignments required of private business and industry following the end of the War. Historian Thomas Woods argues that President Harding’s laissez-faire economic policies during the 1920-21 recession, combined with a coordinated aggressive policy of rapid government downsizing, had a direct influence (mostly through intentional non-influence) on the rapid and widespread private-sector recovery. Woods argued that, as there existed massive distortions in private markets due to government economic influence related to World War I, an equally massive “correction” to the distortions needed to occur as quickly as possible to realign investment and consumption with the new peace-time economic environment.
Daniel Kuehn’s recent research calls into question many of the assertions Woods makes about the 1920-21 recession. Kuehn argues that the most substantial downsizing of government was attributable to the Wilson administration, and occurred well before the onset of the 1920-21 recession. Kuehn notes that the Harding administration raised revenues in 1921 by expanding the tax base considerably at the same time that it lowered rates. Kuehn also argues that Woods underemphasizes the role the monetary stimulus played in reviving the depressed economy and that, since the 1920-21 recession was not characterized by a deficiency in aggregate demand, fiscal stimulus was unwarranted. Economist Paul Krugman, who is critical of the Austrian interpretation, notes that the monetary base expanded significantly from 1922-1925, and that this expansion was accompanied by a reduction in commercial paper rates. Allan Meltzer suggests that deflation and the flight of gold from hyper-inflationary Europe to the U.S. also contributed to the rising real money stock and economic recovery.
Ping for later
Actually, I had heard of the correction, recession and recovery of 1920-21, because the US government didn't do anything stupid and stayed out of it.
Ping to an extremely interesting 40-minute video on the Harding Administration and Austrian Economics.
Nice!
The country’s greatest growth occurred during the Lochner Era. We need to return to that.
Great video. Thanks!
I heard about it, my father lost a business in it and didn’t start another one until 1936.