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FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression | 
 enlarge | Author: Jim Powell
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 7472
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 140005477X
Dewey Decimal Number: 900
EAN: 9781400054770
ASIN: 140005477X
Publication Date: September 28, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: N20090102043309S
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Product Description
“Admirers of FDR credit his New Deal with restoring the American economy after the disastrous contraction of 1929—33. Truth to tell–as Powell demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt–the New Deal hampered recovery from the contraction, prolonged and added to unemployment, and set the stage for ever more intrusive and costly government. Powell’s analysis is thoroughly documented, relying on an impressive variety of popular and academic literature both contemporary and historical.”
–Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate, Hoover Institution
“There is a critical and often forgotten difference between disaster and tragedy. Disasters happen to us all, no matter what we do. Tragedies are brought upon ourselves by hubris. The Depression of the 1930s would have been a brief disaster if it hadn’t been for the national tragedy of the New Deal. Jim Powell has proven this.”
–P.J. O’Rourke, author of Parliament of Whores and Eat the Rich
“The material laid out in this book desperately needs to be available to a much wider audience than the ranks of professional economists and economic historians, if policy confusion similar to the New Deal is to be avoided in the future.”
–James M. Buchanan, Nobel Laureate, George Mason University
“I found Jim Powell’s book fascinating. I think he has written an important story, one that definitely needs telling.”
–Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers’ War
“Jim Powell is one tough-minded historian, willing to let the chips fall where they may. That’s a rare quality these days, hence more valuable than ever. He lets the history do the talking.”
–David Landes, Professor of History Emeritus, Harvard University
“Jim Powell draws together voluminous economic research on the effects of all of Roosevelt’s major policies. Along the way, Powell gives fascinating thumbnail sketches of the major players. The result is a devastating indictment, compellingly told. Those who think that government intervention helped get the U.S. economy out of the depression should read this book.”
–David R. Henderson, editor of The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics and author of The Joy of Freedom
The Great Depression and the New Deal. For generations, the collective American consciousness has believed that the former ruined the country and the latter saved it. Endless praise has been heaped upon President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for masterfully reining in the Depression’s destructive effects and propping up the
country on his New Deal platform. In fact, FDR has achieved mythical status in American history and is considered to be, along with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of all time. But would the Great Depression have been so catastrophic had the New Deal never been implemented?
In FDR’s Folly, historian Jim Powell argues that it was in fact the New Deal itself, with its shortsighted programs, that deepened the Great Depression, swelled the federal government, and prevented the country from turning around quickly. You’ll discover in alarming detail how FDR’s federal programs hurt America more than helped it, with effects we still feel today, including:
• How Social Security actually increased unemployment
• How higher taxes undermined good businesses
• How new labor laws threw people out of work
• And much more
This groundbreaking book pulls back the shroud of awe and the cloak of time enveloping FDR to prove convincingly how flawed his economic policies actually were, despite his good intentions and the astounding intellect of his circle of advisers. In today’s turbulent domestic and global environment, eerily similar to that of the 1930s, it’s more important than ever before to uncover and understand the truth of our history, lest we be doomed to repeat it.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 More need to read January 4, 2009
E Neel (Houston TX)
There needs to be more discussion about FDR, and the socialistic policies he put into place that still effect us today. This is a good book and well cited for further readings. Focuses on the economic history, and not just the political asspects on the surface.
Economic History Primer for Today October 24, 2008
Teddy Dover (Peabody, Ks)
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Due to today's world-wide economic crisis, this book is a must read about how NOT react to the current situation. This book is a massive indictment of the FDR administration's reaction to the Great Depression. Fears of socialism, if not downright fascism, are discussed.
Programs that gave the government the economic control over society hindered its recovery and prolonged the crisis. The benefits of the programs mainly served the political ambitions of those in power and of course those wanting to keep that power.
Phrases heard today were heard in the 1930's, like `spread the wealth,' are used to justify the actions of the activists in power. An institutional mindset that blamed and attacked businesses and banks, and the concept of individuality as being outdated is revealed. An attempt to redefine what is patriotic is heard similiar to 'it is patriotic to play more taxes.'
The primary indictment throughout the book is FDR and his big government socialist plans extended the misery of the depression, which impacted minorities more severely. Can we expect any better result today, when the government is displaying it's questionable intelligence on C-SPAN with all its questioning of experts regarding the current crisis and playing the political blame game? Both major politician parties have courted this disaster and want to blame anyone else but themselves. There is little to no difference to what is happening today then what led to the Depression of the 1930s. That is why this book should be a basic introductory primer for anyone interested in understanding some of the possibilities of the current situation. Maybe, some of these current 'geniuses' could have prevented this fiasco if their education had included this book instead of the normal hagiographic type writing about FDR and his schemes for the 1930's which most of us were exposed to in school.
Great Book October 15, 2008
Rush Baby
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Great Book! FDR has always been regarded as a "Great President" and liberal professors would never dare point out the failings of the New Deal. Obama should read this book and take notes. Some of his proposed policies are just as dangerous. This should be a must read for Poli Sci 101.
A Needed Reassessment of the New Deal Response to the Great Depression October 15, 2008
Ryan Setliff (VA, USA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
~FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression~ is a fascinating look at the Great Depression, which tramples the illogic of the garden variety hagiography of the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The New Deal exacerbated the Great Depression and prolonged it. On the eve of World War II, unemployment stood as high as it did before the Great Depression. The non-sensical policies of Roosevelt (and Federal Reserve under his watch) was a massive deflation of currency in circulation, prime-pumping economy with government spending, and paying farmers to destroy their crops and livestock, while people were famished and the U.S. was importing those same goods as well. Powell who has offered revisionist indictments of the policies of both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson makes the clarion case of "How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression." What makes FDR so unsavory is that his Fireside Chat persona was largely a skilled public relations campaign, and a clever bit of demagoguery, which set him apart from the failed Herbert Hoover. While FDR may have felt the pain of the common man, he set the stage for prolonging the policies that impugned him ironically. But as FDR once said, "You know, I'm a juggler, and I never let my right hand know what my left hand does. I am perfectly willing to mislead and tell untruths..."
Valuable Resource on the Great Depression May 12, 2008
Doug (Washington D.C. area)
26 out of 30 found this review helpful
A common historical misconception is that FDR's New Deal rescued the United States from the Great Depression. However, CATO Historian Jim Powell argues that the New Deal exacerbated and elongated the Great Depression. With impressive attention to detail, Powell examines the long-term results of the New Deal and persuasively argues that they crippled the U.S. economy.
In this detailed book, you will learn about the numerous programs the FDR administration brought about, including the following:
* Programs that inundated private businesses with unprecedented waves of regulations, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, the National Recovery Act and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
* Programs that redistributed wealth from producers to consumers, such as the Federal Emergency Relief Act and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
* Programs that nationalized industries, centrally planned infrastructure or created makework projects to increase employment such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Powell argues that these programs typically led to poorly planned infrastructure that was more expensive than what could have been acquired in a free market.
The economic results of FDR's programs were devastating. For example, consider the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). The price and production controls of the AAA led to perverse practices such as millions of tons of domestic oat and corn being burned while the U.S. simultaneously imported oat and corn, millions of peaches being left to rot and millions of "excess" pigs being needlessly slaughtered while lard was being imported from overseas. The extent of economic regulation under the FDR Administration reached such absurd levels, there was even a government board organized solely to control the production and pricing of milk!
This book will also detail the oppressive controls on income and wages under the FDR administration. Under FDR, scores of private sector jobs were eliminated through minimum wage laws, personal income taxes hit 91% for certain brackets and it was a stated part of FDR's platform that nobody should have an annual income in excess of $25,000.
Powell reveals how all of FDR's programs are based upon the fatally flawed premises of Keynesian economics, including the following:
* That government spending is always good for the economy, even if it is engaging in pointless ventures such as building pyramids.
* War is good for the economy.
* Gold (as a standard of currency) is a "barbarous relic" that prevents economic growth.
* A capitalist economy will inevitably slow to a halt without periodic bolsters from centralized planning.
* Consumption (i.e., the destruction of wealth) not production, drives the economy. Thus, government should redistribute wealth from those who would invest it to those who would spend it.
From reading this book, you will also learn that many of FDR's earliest programs, such as the AAA and the National Recovery Act, were originally ruled as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Unfortunately FDR stayed in office long enough to appoint 7 of the 9 sitting supreme court justices, which eventually opened the floodgates for New Deal reforms. Thus, is the unforeseen danger of having a President serve more than two terms.
Powell has done a fantastic job with this work. I am not surprised that FDR's Folly has been enthusiastically recommended by famed free market economists such as Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in free market capitalism and learning the real history of the Great Depression.
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