by Robert Murphy
Book Description
In this timely P.I. Guide, economist Robert P. Murphy reveals the stark truth: Free market failure didn't cause the Great Depression and the New Deal didn't cure it. Shattering myths and politically correct lies, he tells why World War II didn't help the economy or get us out of the Great Depression; why it took FDR to make the Depression "Great"; and why Herbert Hoover was more like Obama and less like Bush than the liberal media would have you believe. Free-market believers and capitalists everywhere should have this on their bookshelves and in their briefcases.
Everything you know about the Great Depression and the New Deal is wrong. We all learned in school that the 1920s were a time of unregulated capitalism that led to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Herbert Hoover was a laissez-faire ideologue who did nothing to alleviate the crisis ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´ÌàÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´å even as citizens starved and were forced to live in "Hoovervilles." And the interventionist policies and massive spending programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal gradually lifted us out of the Depression, until World War II brought it to a definitive end.
The only trouble with this official narrative ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´ÌàÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´å taught in most history textbooks and proclaimed as gospel by the media ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´ÌàÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´å is that every element of it is false. Worse, this unsubstantiated myth is now being used to justify a "new New Deal" in response to today's economic crisis that could lead to a Greater Depression even deeper and longer than the first. But in "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal," Murphy fact-checks the myths, shows why they're wrong and delves deep into history to set the record straight. His "politically incorrect" conclusion? It was government, not free markets, that caused the Great Depression ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´ÌàÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´å and the New Deal only made it worse. The real "lessons of the Great Depression" are not what you've been taught.
- The Crash of `29 was caused not by capitalism, but by the boom brought on by the newly created Federal Reserve's easy money policy (sound familiar?)
- Hoover made the Depression "Great" precisely by abandoning the laissez-faire approach that previous presidents had followed and that kept depressions short
- The bank runs of the 1930s were caused by government intervention in the banking system
- Government efforts to prop up wages and prices led to a full decade of double-digit unemployment
- FDR's arbitrary policies toward businessmen resulted in net investment of less than zero for much of the Depression
Might Barack Obama be the new FDR? You'll know after reading "The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal" that, if he is, that's nothing to celebrate.
Editorial Review
Ludwig von Mises Institute
ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´ÌàMyths about the Great Depression were once a mere annoyance. Now they have become a source for tyranny. The Bush-Obama response to the meltdown proves that one thing is certain: until we get the history of the 1930s right, liberty will be under threat of those trying to repeat the drama. Thank goodness Robert Murphy has come along to straighten out the mess in a way that everyone can understand. In this hard-hitting book, we find the most accessible and most truth-telling book about the Great Depression and the New Deal that has ever been written. Free-market economists have been working for decades to make the record of the calamity clear. This book may just be the magic bullet we've been looking for to kill off the myths before they kill us.ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´åÇ
About the Author
Robert P. Murphy, author of ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´ÌàThe Politically Incorrect Guide to CapitalismÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´åÇ and ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_Ì´åÇÌÎå«Ì´ÌàThe Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal,ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎÌ__ÌÎÌ_ÌÎ_ÌÎå«Ì´åÇ earned his Ph.D. in economics from New York University. A former professor at Hillsdale College, he is now an adjunct scholar with the Ludwig von Mises Institute and an analyst at Laffer Associates. He has worked as an economics scholar and lecturer, as an investment/business analyst and as a writer of popular journalism on economic topics. He lives with his wife and son in Nashville, Tenn.
Product Details
- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Regnery Publishing (March 31, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1596980966
- ISBN-13: 978-1596980969
- Shipping Weight: 12 ounces