Amity Shlaes

Absolutely. I would just quarrel with the term pro-business because there's one kind of pro-business, which is you go out with a company and give it a sweetheart deal.

Absolutely. I would just quarrel with the term pro-business because there's one kind of pro-business, which is you go out with a company and give it a sweetheart deal.

There's another kind of pro-business, which is more anonymous and I'd say more virtuous, and Coolidge was quite explicit about this, make conditions for all businesses better, not particular businesses who might have been campaign contributors or something like that.

There's another kind of pro-business, which is more anonymous and I'd say more virtuous, and Coolidge was quite explicit about this, make conditions for all businesses better, not particular businesses who might have been campaign contributors or something like that.

There's another kind of pro-business, which is more anonymous and I'd say more virtuous, and Coolidge was quite explicit about this, make conditions for all businesses better, not particular businesses who might have been campaign contributors or something like that.

The Republicans were not entirely consistent on this because they favored the tariff, which naturally favors not only certain industries, but eventually certain firms. But otherwise, on domestic policy, the goal of Harding and Coolidge was to make the environment fairer or freer for business, which is not the same as teaming up with some charismatic person from a big company.

The Republicans were not entirely consistent on this because they favored the tariff, which naturally favors not only certain industries, but eventually certain firms. But otherwise, on domestic policy, the goal of Harding and Coolidge was to make the environment fairer or freer for business, which is not the same as teaming up with some charismatic person from a big company.

The Republicans were not entirely consistent on this because they favored the tariff, which naturally favors not only certain industries, but eventually certain firms. But otherwise, on domestic policy, the goal of Harding and Coolidge was to make the environment fairer or freer for business, which is not the same as teaming up with some charismatic person from a big company.

You know, it's very, very different. So the drive of Harding and then Coolidge was only pro-business in the sense that it wanted to make the environment friendlier for business, not pro-business in the corrupt or crony sense, the domestic drive.

You know, it's very, very different. So the drive of Harding and then Coolidge was only pro-business in the sense that it wanted to make the environment friendlier for business, not pro-business in the corrupt or crony sense, the domestic drive.

You know, it's very, very different. So the drive of Harding and then Coolidge was only pro-business in the sense that it wanted to make the environment friendlier for business, not pro-business in the corrupt or crony sense, the domestic drive.

Absolutely. And that was very good of you to get at that in your preceding show, Don. So if you go out and tell everyone you want the free market and you want to privatize government assets, which is what Harding did, then when you privatize, you better do it fairly, right? You don't want to create an object lesson in why the private sector is worse than the public sector.

Absolutely. And that was very good of you to get at that in your preceding show, Don. So if you go out and tell everyone you want the free market and you want to privatize government assets, which is what Harding did, then when you privatize, you better do it fairly, right? You don't want to create an object lesson in why the private sector is worse than the public sector.

Absolutely. And that was very good of you to get at that in your preceding show, Don. So if you go out and tell everyone you want the free market and you want to privatize government assets, which is what Harding did, then when you privatize, you better do it fairly, right? You don't want to create an object lesson in why the private sector is worse than the public sector.

If you're trying to praise the private sector, yet Harding employees are particularly the cabinet member Daugherty, and then also the director of the Veteran Affairs, who is named Charles Forbes on your last show, those people were corrupt. They gave sweetheart contracts in Forbes's orbit. There were kickbacks taken for hospitals built for... I believe Forbes ended up in Leavenworth Prison.

If you're trying to praise the private sector, yet Harding employees are particularly the cabinet member Daugherty, and then also the director of the Veteran Affairs, who is named Charles Forbes on your last show, those people were corrupt. They gave sweetheart contracts in Forbes's orbit. There were kickbacks taken for hospitals built for... I believe Forbes ended up in Leavenworth Prison.

If you're trying to praise the private sector, yet Harding employees are particularly the cabinet member Daugherty, and then also the director of the Veteran Affairs, who is named Charles Forbes on your last show, those people were corrupt. They gave sweetheart contracts in Forbes's orbit. There were kickbacks taken for hospitals built for... I believe Forbes ended up in Leavenworth Prison.

Well, that's nasty. It also besmirches the value of privatization that you're seeking to advance. It builds the case for more public sector work, doesn't it? It's the opposite of what the Republican Party sought. That was the damage of the name of the Harding scandal was Teapot Dome. And the veteran scandals was that they proved in some narrow way the risks of privatizing rather than the merits.

Well, that's nasty. It also besmirches the value of privatization that you're seeking to advance. It builds the case for more public sector work, doesn't it? It's the opposite of what the Republican Party sought. That was the damage of the name of the Harding scandal was Teapot Dome. And the veteran scandals was that they proved in some narrow way the risks of privatizing rather than the merits.

Well, that's nasty. It also besmirches the value of privatization that you're seeking to advance. It builds the case for more public sector work, doesn't it? It's the opposite of what the Republican Party sought. That was the damage of the name of the Harding scandal was Teapot Dome. And the veteran scandals was that they proved in some narrow way the risks of privatizing rather than the merits.