Amity Shlaes

For every year, there's a different reason the depression kept going. But the reason it's great and not a depression, but the depression, the Great Depression was the duration. And what happened was first another Republican, Hoover, who had run on following Coolidge policy, didn't. Hoover was a progressive. Three policies that were different by Hoover.

One, he believed in pushing up labor prices in order on the theory that people have money, spend money and get the economy going, what we would call Keynesianism. Coolidge did not. push up wages. So Hoover promoted a policy that did that. He exhorted employers to pay high in the Depression. Well, if you ask someone who's losing money to pay high, what does he do? He lays off more.

One, he believed in pushing up labor prices in order on the theory that people have money, spend money and get the economy going, what we would call Keynesianism. Coolidge did not. push up wages. So Hoover promoted a policy that did that. He exhorted employers to pay high in the Depression. Well, if you ask someone who's losing money to pay high, what does he do? He lays off more.

One, he believed in pushing up labor prices in order on the theory that people have money, spend money and get the economy going, what we would call Keynesianism. Coolidge did not. push up wages. So Hoover promoted a policy that did that. He exhorted employers to pay high in the Depression. Well, if you ask someone who's losing money to pay high, what does he do? He lays off more.

That's an example. Hoover signed a big smooth holly, a big tariff. That wasn't helpful either. I think Coolidge might have signed that because all Republicans were for tariffs, but maybe, I mean, I don't want to speculate about that. What else did Hoover do? He raised taxes, very stressful for business. There was even a tax on checks for which is very hard when you want markets to clear.

That's an example. Hoover signed a big smooth holly, a big tariff. That wasn't helpful either. I think Coolidge might have signed that because all Republicans were for tariffs, but maybe, I mean, I don't want to speculate about that. What else did Hoover do? He raised taxes, very stressful for business. There was even a tax on checks for which is very hard when you want markets to clear.

That's an example. Hoover signed a big smooth holly, a big tariff. That wasn't helpful either. I think Coolidge might have signed that because all Republicans were for tariffs, but maybe, I mean, I don't want to speculate about that. What else did Hoover do? He raised taxes, very stressful for business. There was even a tax on checks for which is very hard when you want markets to clear.

You don't want to throw what we say sand in the gears. And generally, Hoover blamed business, which he didn't even mean. He just thought it might be popular if he did, which isn't productive either. He blocked short selling, which sounds nice because short sales do bring the market down. But when you do that, you prevent the market from clearing and finding its own level, which

You don't want to throw what we say sand in the gears. And generally, Hoover blamed business, which he didn't even mean. He just thought it might be popular if he did, which isn't productive either. He blocked short selling, which sounds nice because short sales do bring the market down. But when you do that, you prevent the market from clearing and finding its own level, which

You don't want to throw what we say sand in the gears. And generally, Hoover blamed business, which he didn't even mean. He just thought it might be popular if he did, which isn't productive either. He blocked short selling, which sounds nice because short sales do bring the market down. But when you do that, you prevent the market from clearing and finding its own level, which

If you follow markets, you know, allowing markets to clear can shorten, make worse, but also shorten the pain of a downturn. It's more like a snap than a prolonged downturn. set of years of trouble. So Hoover did all that. He was a constitutional progressive.

If you follow markets, you know, allowing markets to clear can shorten, make worse, but also shorten the pain of a downturn. It's more like a snap than a prolonged downturn. set of years of trouble. So Hoover did all that. He was a constitutional progressive.

If you follow markets, you know, allowing markets to clear can shorten, make worse, but also shorten the pain of a downturn. It's more like a snap than a prolonged downturn. set of years of trouble. So Hoover did all that. He was a constitutional progressive.

And then came Franklin Roosevelt, who was a much bolder progressive and decided to go all the way into the economy and to announce experimentation. It's important to understand that Roosevelt's policy were truly the mirror opposite of of what Harding had proposed all those years ago in 20. Harding said no experimentation. If you go and look at his 21 inaugural, you'll see he says no experimenting.

And then came Franklin Roosevelt, who was a much bolder progressive and decided to go all the way into the economy and to announce experimentation. It's important to understand that Roosevelt's policy were truly the mirror opposite of of what Harding had proposed all those years ago in 20. Harding said no experimentation. If you go and look at his 21 inaugural, you'll see he says no experimenting.

And then came Franklin Roosevelt, who was a much bolder progressive and decided to go all the way into the economy and to announce experimentation. It's important to understand that Roosevelt's policy were truly the mirror opposite of of what Harding had proposed all those years ago in 20. Harding said no experimentation. If you go and look at his 21 inaugural, you'll see he says no experimenting.

Let's go back to our proven system. Wow. And Roosevelt says no. Bold, persistent experimentation is what we need. The absolute opposite, and that is what Roosevelt did. So one of the things I try to get at in my Forgotten Man book, which is about the 30s, is the cost of experimentation. long after Coolidge and even Hoover experimenting went on. And the economy doesn't like that.

Let's go back to our proven system. Wow. And Roosevelt says no. Bold, persistent experimentation is what we need. The absolute opposite, and that is what Roosevelt did. So one of the things I try to get at in my Forgotten Man book, which is about the 30s, is the cost of experimentation. long after Coolidge and even Hoover experimenting went on. And the economy doesn't like that.

Let's go back to our proven system. Wow. And Roosevelt says no. Bold, persistent experimentation is what we need. The absolute opposite, and that is what Roosevelt did. So one of the things I try to get at in my Forgotten Man book, which is about the 30s, is the cost of experimentation. long after Coolidge and even Hoover experimenting went on. And the economy doesn't like that.

You know, recoveries are like people, you know, they can come back or they can elect to stay away. And the recovery took a look at the rate of experimentation under Roosevelt and said, I'll sit this one out one more year each time. So that was the problem. I mean, you can go for volumes, what happened in 37 and 36, but The real point about the Great Depression was the duration.