FDR's Raw Deal Exposed

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 9.30.03 | Thomas Roeser

[Elliott Jackalope]

Lawrence Reed of the Mackinac center for public policy wrote a paper titled "Great Myths of the Great Depression" that you can find at http://www.mackinac.org/article.asp?ID=4013 - I highly recommend reading it.

[ElkGroveDan]

Thank you for posting this.

[Cathryn Crawford]

For 70 years there has been a holy creed--spread by academia until accepted by media and most Americans--that Franklin D. Roosevelt cured the Great Depression. That belief spurred the growth of modern liberalism; conservatives are still on the defensive where modern historians are concerned. Not so anymore when the facts are considered. Now a scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute has demonstrated that (a) not only did Roosevelt not end the Depression, but (b) by incompetent measures, he prolonged it.

Ping...

[jmc813]

The drug war is another product of the New Deal.

[Cathryn Crawford]

You're welcome. And nice tagline. :-)

[MayDay72]

...BUMP...

[Chad Fairbanks]

Thanks for posting this - the part about how Black Farmers were never reimbursed was pretty telling, actually.

The inherent racism of the Democratic Party never ceases to amaze me...

[liberallarry]

Roosevelt didn't end the Great Depression. War did.

The author hasn't "demonstrated" anything. He argues - not very convincingly in my opinion - for a certain interpretation. An example of a weakness in his argument; he neglects to mention that the Federal Reserve in the period 1929 to 1933 - Hoover's presidency - acted in accord with sound Conservative principles of the time.

[Allan]

For 70 years there has been a holy creed--
spread by academia until accepted by media
and most Americans--
that Franklin D. Roosevelt cured the Great Depression.

Is that true?
I was born in 1940
and I never have met a single person
who lived through the depression
who thought that FDR ended it.

Most people seem to think WWII did it.

[Cathryn Crawford]

Roosevelt didn't end the Great Depression. War did.

Exactly.

I believe the author states your point in the last line:

The truth: The Depression ended with the buildup to World War II.

[patton]

Tip of the iceburg. FDR, in effect, was in charge of a coup'd'etat that ended the US republic.

[Mears]

Same here,and I'm a few years older than you. I always thought it was the war.

[Montfort]

We are also taught that FDR and his new deal saved us from communism. That may be so, but it seems like a lot of these policies contributed to suffering and increased the numbers of displaced workers.

Perhaps someone wanted us to go communist, but simply did not quite pull it off. The role of the Federal Reserve in all this certainly gives support to the conspiracy theorists throughout US history who have preached against the centralized power of a central bank. Perhaps they were(are) right.

[Jack Black]

thanks. I think the tight money supply is generally accepted to have been a huge contributor to the depression. I was taught this 20 years ago at a liberal college. Still more debunking of the socialist hero is always called for.

[eno_]

You put your finger on the true test of conservatism: If you ask a "conservative" if they would repeal the New Deal laws, close the departments, and roll-back the decisions of the packed court, they are NOT a real conservative.

[eno_]

So good to hear from another who knows the truth!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Great post!

This was in the SunTimes?

[Cathryn Crawford]

Yes. I was a bit surprised to find it there.

[eno_]

I meant to say if they hem and haw about it they are not a real conservative.