*New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America* by
Burton Folsom Jr.
New York: Threshold Editions, 2008. 336 pp. $27.00 (cloth).
Reviewed by Eric Daniels
Seventy-five years have elapsed since Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced
the flurry of government programs he called the New Deal. In the years
since, most historians have lavished FDR with praise, claiming that his bold
leadership helped to pull America out of the Great Depression. Even those
who acknowledge the failure of particular Roosevelt-era programs claim that
FDR instilled hope and confidence in the American people, and that his
economic failures were the result of his not going far enough in his
policies and not spending enough money.
Today, amidst calls for increasing government regulation of the financial
industry and increasing government spending through stimulus packages, the
New Deal is making a comeback. In light of the recent mortgage crisis and
economic downturn, pundits are calling for a revival of 1930s-style
policies. Daniel Gross claimed at Slate.com that New Deal reforms were
"saving capitalism again." Newly minted Nobel economist Paul Krugman issued
calls in the *New York Times* for President-elect Obama to mimic and expand
FDR's response to the Great Depression. And a recent *Time* cover called for
a "New New Deal"-and featured an iconic photo of FDR, with Obama's face and
hands substituted.
As the Obama administration begins to implement its economic plan, Americans
would do well to reexamine the history of the original New Deal and its
effects. Though most historians rank FDR as a great president, some,
including Burton Folsom Jr., boldly dare to ask if "the New Deal, rather
than helping to cure the Great Depression, actually help[ed to] prolong it"
(p. 7). According to Folsom, a professor of history at Hillsdale College,
the answer is clearly the latter. In *New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's
Economic Legacy Has Damaged America*, he challenges the myth that FDR's New
Deal represents a shining moment in American history. As long as the
mythology surrounding the New Deal remains intact, he notes, "the principles
of public policy derived from the New Deal will continue to dominate
American politics" (p. 15), costing Americans billions of dollars and
further damaging the economy. . . .
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*New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America* by
Burton Folsom Jr.
New York: Threshold Editions, 2008. 336 pp. $27.00 (cloth).
Reviewed by Eric Daniels
Seventy-five years have elapsed since Franklin Delano Roosevelt
introduced the flurry of government programs he called the New Deal. In the
years since, most historians have lavished FDR with praise, claiming that
his bold leadership helped to pull America out of the Great Depression. Even
those who acknowledge the failure of particular Roosevelt-era programs claim
that FDR instilled hope and confidence in the American people, and that his
economic failures were the result of his not going far enough in his
policies and not spending enough money.
Today, amidst calls for increasing government regulation of the financial
industry and increasing government spending through stimulus packages, the
New Deal is making a comeback. In light of the recent mortgage crisis and
economic downturn, pundits are calling for a revival of 1930s-style
policies. Daniel Gross claimed at Slate.com that New Deal reforms were
"saving capitalism again." Newly minted Nobel economist Paul Krugman issued
calls in the *New York Times* for President-elect Obama to mimic and
expand FDR's response to the Great Depression. And a recent *Time* cover
called for a "New New Deal"-and featured an iconic photo of FDR, with
Obama's face and hands substituted.
As the Obama administration begins to implement its economic plan,
Americans would do well to reexamine the history of the original New Deal
and its effects. Though most historians rank FDR as a great president, some,
including Burton Folsom Jr., boldly dare to ask if "the New Deal, rather
than helping to cure the Great Depression, actually help[ed to] prolong it"
(p. 7). According to Folsom, a professor of history at Hillsdale College,
the answer is clearly the latter. In *New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's
Economic Legacy Has Damaged America*, he challenges the myth that FDR's
New Deal represents a shining moment in American history. As long as the
mythology surrounding the New Deal remains intact, he notes, "the principles
of public policy derived from the New Deal will continue to dominate
American politics" (p. 15), costing Americans billions of dollars and
further damaging the economy. . . .
Full article accessible to current subscribers: Subscriber
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- Return to Winter 2008-2009
contents<http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-winter/index.asp>
Monday, 9 February 2009
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