Rethinking the Great Depression (American Ways Series)
by Gene Smiley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Gene SmileyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-25
ISBN: 1566634717
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Book Reviews of Rethinking the Great Depression (American Ways Series)
Book Review: How Not to Manage an Economic Depression
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a short book on the causes of the Great Depression. Gene Smiley takes us through the events leading up to the Great Depression and some of the contributing factors that prolonged it.
One of the triggers to the depression were the banks who were over-leveraged to the agricultural sector and fell quickly when drought hit farmer's crops. This constricts the money supply in the economy which cuts the ability to produce wealth.
Smiley presents a good case of what not to do during an economic depression. Problems with gold reserves, banks over-leveraged, wage and price controls, contractionary monetary policy, all of these contributed to a prolonged recovery from the stock market crash of 1929.
One of the more interesting points the author makes is the recovery post WW II and how it was overstated due to rising prices from the end of wage and price controls. This may be so but the fact remains that demand was rising during the wage and price controls which was a change from pre-war confidence levels. There was a change in consumer demand which, sad to say, was due to the war.
I don't see this book as a critique of Keynesian economics. It's a book on what not to do during an international meltdown. FDR wasn't practicing sound economics, regardless of his philosophy. Contrary to what some think, wage and price controls are not fiscal stimulus which is what FDR used in the initial stages of the depression.
Thank goodness the US has a central banker that has scholared in the Great Depression and has an understanding of the importance of confidence in economic decision making, especially the consumer.
We've come a long way in understanding how economics works but we have a long way to go to understand the problems the future holds for us.
Congress needs to recognize the problems that Wall Street can create for the world. The investment side of banking needs to be separated from the commercial side so that we aren't faced with the moral hazard we've just experienced. We need to bring back the Glass-Steagall Act that was enacted during the Great Depression that addressed this problem that brought us the latest economic disaster.
Let's hope the mistakes of the past are not repeated. The world is not clear of sliding back into a recession yet.
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