Posted on 01/02/2009 5:56:38 PM PST by milwguy
Sure, the vast majority of Americans think the New Deal worked well. But are conservatives right? Did the New Deal's "massive government intervention prolong the Great Depression?"
Ummm ... no.
On deeper examination, I discovered that the right bases its New Deal revisionism on the short-lived recession in a year straddling 1937 and 1938. But that was four years into Roosevelt's term -- four years marked by spectacular economic growth. Additionally, the fleeting decline happened not because of the New Deal's spending programs, but because Roosevelt momentarily listened to conservatives and backed off them. As Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman notes, in 1937-38, FDR "was persuaded to balance the budget" and "cut spending and the economy went back down again."
As Newsweek's Daniel Gross reports, "One would be very hard-pressed to find a serious professional historian who believes that the New Deal prolonged the Depression."
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
The liberal writers like this author are already doing pre-emptive strikes on conservatives who point out that FDR and his policies are what kept the nation in a depression, and it was only WWII that got us out.
I am reading a wonderful book which came out this year by Burton Folsom Jr which explodes the myth of FDR. It is called "New Deal or Raw Deal, how FDR's economic legacy has damaged America.
One quote he uses, from Henry Mrogenthau (who was FDR's Treasury Secretary and closest confidant) blows all of the liberal arguments out of the water. On May 9, 1939, with unemployment at 20%, speaking to the House Ways and Means Committee Congress, Morgenthau said "We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong...somebody else can have my job. I want to see the country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promise....I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started....and an enourmous debt to boot!"
Anyone who thinks FDR’s prolonging the Great Depression for a decade and needing a World War to get us out amounted to “doing a good job” should not be trusted in any position of responsibility because they are trying to legitimize abject incompetency out of sheer ignorance or for partisan reasons.
“Liberal barfer” is redundant.
Sure. Any "serious" historian would be a Marxist.
this article is a joke...they mention unemployment fell every year but it was still at like 19% before ww2...
and they don’t mention the wage fixing that went on that was the main culprit of the unemployment rate ....
of course the gdp was going to grow but it took years to get back to the level we were at before the great depression...and that was because of ww2
and anybody who takes advice from krugman is just dumb
Ummm, hard pressed, as in enrolling in a community college, getting the most ardent liberal professor, and having him saying unequivocally that FDR did indeed make the Depression worse and last much longer than it would have if left alone? Is that what he means by "hard pressed?" I will not click the link, I will not give this moron any more traffic.
These Leftist clown are trying to preemptively make 0bama look competent, no matter how ignorant and delusional his pre-failed economic policies turn out to be. Which is why I often refer to the Kenyan as ‘Hoovervelt’.
These MORONIC Leftist clowns are trying to preemptively make 0bama look competent, no matter how ignorant and delusional his pre-failed economic policies turn out to be. Which is why I often refer to the Kenyan as ‘Hoovervelt’.
“four years marked by spectacular economic growth”
LOL! Spectacular compared to what? It would take some pretty damn concerted effort to keep going downhill from the low point of ‘32-’33.
“and needing a World War to get us out”
That is a myth. Wars do not bring recovery. They are a huge waste of money.
Congressman Billybob
Latest article, "The Non-Constitutional Crisis from Illinois"
The Declaration, the Constitution, parts of the Federalist, and America's Owner's Manual, here.
How about:
FDR''s folly : how Roosevelt and his New Deal prolonged the Great Depression by Jim Powell
But then I forget, being a "serious" historian means blindly accepting the liberal orthodoxy.
“the fleeting decline happened not because of the New Deal’s spending programs, but because Roosevelt momentarily listened to conservatives and backed off them. As Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman notes, in 1937-38, FDR ‘was persuaded to balance the budget’ and ‘cut spending and the economy went back down again.’”
In what world would spending cuts cause a depression? Oh yeah, Government World.
Excerpt:
The prevailing view in many quarters is that the stock market crash of 1929 was a failure of the free market that led to massive unemployment in the 1930s-- and that it was intervention of Roosevelt's New Deal policies that rescued the economy.
It is such a good story that it seems a pity to spoil it with facts.
Yeah, OK, brilliant. Your source is Newsweek? One would be hard pressed to find a serious professional journalist who believes that citing Newsweek as a source, particularly your first source does anything but immediately destroy the credibility of the citer. That's like quoting the AP as a credible source. That's like saying you can beat Tiger Woods at golf if he gives you a 43 stroke handicap.
“and it was only WWII that got us out”
Wrong. In a purely economic sense, WWII wasted trillions of dollars. Plus, we had another recession as soon as war production stopped.
I would say that both Hoover and FDR prolonged the recession. And Hoover was no fiscal conservative either.
But the truth is that you can’t just blame it on the top guy. The Fed is most to blame. Congress comes in second.
The recession of 1937 was rather severe and was mostly caused by the newly created FOMC. The Fed believed that a surplus of gold would be inflationary, so they greatly increased reserve requirements. It was their first of many recessions their ineptitude would cause for the next seventy years.
True. But they are unrivaled at creating full employment, since the US pulled 12M men out of the workforce. The military then hauled a bunch of stuff to the other side of the world and blew it up there, so there was a good market for goods.
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