New Deal Unmasked

Accuracy in Academia ^ | November 3, 2010 | Amanda Winkler

[Academiadotorg]

Drawing striking similarities between the current financial situation and that of the 1930s, Amity Shlaes gave a lecture at Hillsdale College in February 2010 detailing forgotten yet important lessons to be learned from the Great Depression. Shlaes is a senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations, a graduate of Yale University, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, author of two bestselling books, and recipient of many prestigious awards in Economics and Journalism.

Shlaes begins by establishing the familiar narrative of the Great Depression that every American child is taught in school. A common theme Americans usually learn is that the Great Depression was somewhat of a mysterious problem which could only be solved by experts in Washington. In the 1930s, this dexterous group was known as the Brain Trust and served as Roosevelt’s key advisory board.

... Moreover, the methods by which the New Deal drove the economy were not always that scientific. For instance, prices were set by the president personally. One morning, as noted by Henry Morgenthau, FDR raised the price of gold by 21cents. Why? Because seven times three is 21 and seven and three are lucky numbers.

Amanda Winkler is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.

Blogs that linked this article: Tweets that mention New Deal Unmasked :: Accuracy In Academia -- Topsy.com

[sauropod]

bflr