Great myths about the great depression [Thomas Sowell]

townhall.com ^ | October 9, 2003 | Thomas Sowell

[Savage Beast]

The United States is still suffering from the results of the Franklin Roosevelt administration and the Democrat Party that he designed. My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were all Democrats. My parents and grandparents were enthusiastic supporters of Franklin Roosevelt. Were they alive today, they would repudiate the Democrat Party and what it stands for absolutely and in no uncertain terms. Had they known where F. Roosevelt and his policies were leading the U.S., they would never have given him their support.

[Sam Cree]

bttt

[CMAC51]

>> To suggest that this is not a priority of the government is either stupidity or a lie. Of course the Federal government should do what it can to help the economy. <<

Of course the Federal government should do what it can to help the economy, it should keep its hands off. The Federal government would be successful if it would follow the first dictate of medicine, "First do no harm".

[ClearCase_guy]

Hoover was in the business of solving problems. He was a mining engineer -- he solved problems constantly. After WWI our government sent him to Europe and asked him to help get food to hungry Europeans. It was a problem to solve, and he did a magnificent job. Largely because of his success in this task, he was elected President. Then our economy got hit hard and people were suffering ... I'm not surprised that he tried to solve that problem too. I just wish he hadn't.

[Tax-chick]

Okay, then how about citations from the Bible, wonk :-).

[CobaltBlue]

Louis T. McFadden was a nut case, and largely responsible for the bank failures that contributed to the Great Depression. He was afraid of "foreign bankers" (by which he meant Jews) taking over America, so sponsored legislation that almost outlawed intrastate branch banking (the 1927 McFadden Act.)

Google Louis McFadden and Jews and see for yourself. He was a loon.

[Redbob]

"And Hoover? Sounds like he might've been history's first recorded RINO!"

I think I'd reserve that award for old "Honest" Abe...

[Orbiting_Rosie's_Head]

The United States is still suffering from the results of the Franklin Roosevelt administration and the Democrat Party that he designed. My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were all Democrats. My parents and grandparents were enthusiastic supporters of Franklin Roosevelt. Were they alive today, they would repudiate the Democrat Party and what it stands for absolutely and in no uncertain terms. Had they known where F. Roosevelt and his policies were leading the U.S., they would never have given him their support.

My maternal grandparents were hard-core Republicans who new exactly where the "New Deal" would lead. My grandfather would expound for hours in the early 70's about how the "stagflation" economy was a direct consequence of the new deal and great society. They hated FDR so much that my mother relates a story that on the day he died, my grandmother danced down the street of her mostly-DemocRAT neighborhood, swigging a bottle of wine and shouting "hooray! That son of a bitch is dead!"

[Savage Beast]

"Democracy is a form of religion; it is the worship of jackals by jackasses. -- H.L. Mencken"

It can be difficult to tell the benevolent but stupid "Liberals"/Democrats from the malevolent but smart ones.

The jackasses "judge by intentions.". The jackels admonish to "judge by intentions" as a means of misleading.

Millions of people across the globe--notably in North America and Europe--are communicants of this religion of "Liberalism" (The Left).

In the final analysis, the benevolent but stupid ones probably prove more dangerous, i.e.

A fool is more dangerous than a scoundrel.

[VOA]

This book is an education in itself, both in history and in economics. It is also a warning
of what can happen when leaders are chosen for their charm, charisma and rhetoric.

Question to the forum...has anyone heard the author (Powell) on any
talk radio shows?
I listen to lots of shows (Ingraham, Prager, Medved, Hewitt, etc.) and haven't
heard (or missed) this writer or discussion of this book.

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

And don't forget LBJ for continuing and enlarging the "New Deal" into the "Great Society" program.

Both of these programs did great damage to the US economy and it is still doing so today!

[steve50]

Google Louis McFadden and Jews and see for yourself. He was a loon.

Why would I care what his opinion on "Jews" is, the issue is the Federal Reserve and monetary policy. Is it your position that they control the Federal Reserve?

[goodnesswins]

"...danced down the street of her mostly-DemocRAT neighborhood, swigging a bottle of wine and shouting "hooray! That son of a bitch is dead!"

Hey...I have fantasies about doing JUST that when a certain someone meets his maker....

[Cobra Scott]

Probably a good precursor to Coulter's Treason.

[Savage Beast]

My mother lived long enough to repudiate the Democrat Party. She became a passionate Republican, in the final years of her life, and had only scorn for the Democrats and what they stand for.

When I was a child, in the third grade, a school teacher encouraged us children to be Republicans. When I told my mother, she said that I was a Democrat--that we were all Democrats--just as she told me what religion I was, and I accepted this.

As soon as I was old enough to read and understand for myself--and vote!--I became a Republican and later a Libertarian!

Years later, my mother became a Republican. She had only condemnation for the Democrats and the Democrat Party.

Had my father, grandparents, and great grandparents lived long enough, they would also have become Republicans and rejected and condemned the Democrat Party.

All people who are benevolent and wise should reject and repudiate the Democrats and the Democrat Party. The fate of the United States depends upon it.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

You might be interested in this. The book review indicates that tariffs were considered but a rather small part of the problem (and it seems they were misapplied - not for reciprocity or to level the playing field).
FDR tripled taxes and a host of other badly judged government intervention that contributed to and greatly extended this world-wide depression.

[B.Bumbleberry]

Exactly, Tony! Big Bump.

[justshutupandtakeit]

You don't serious believe that there was ever a time when the federal government kept "hands off" the economy do you?

Even if there was such a time would you recommend such a policy if it meant a communist insurrection or takeover as could have easily been the case during the thirties?

In the past there was no study of economics but rather of political economy. That subject indicated an awareness that economics cannot be totally separated from politics and that even the most perfectly operating economy can be brought down by political considerations/actions.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Oh, suuure the man who defined Republican was a "Rino." Amazing.

[Grampa Dave]

The author is Sowell not Powell. I'm sure that you have read his articles and heard about Dr Thomas Sowell.