Krugman's Reference to Right Wing Efforts To Blame FDR For Great Depression

[Median Democrat]

I saw this reference in one of Krugman's recent columns about efforts by the right wing to try to blame the Great Depression on FDR's policies notwithstanding the fact that the Great Depression was well under way when FDR took office in 1933. The most notable example is the book by libertarian author Jim Powell in "FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression."

http://www.amazon.com/FDRs-Folly-Roosevelt-Prolonged-Depression/dp/140005477X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226981370&sr=1-3

I have already started to see more conservative articles citing to this book as the god given truth, yet aside from Krugman's brief discussion in his commentary, there has been no significant effort to respond to conservative revisionists who try to indirectly attack Obama's proposals by attacking FDR's New Deal. I imagine in the coming years that Right Wing efforts to re-write history will accelerate as they try to oppose Obama's policies by attacking FDR's legacy. Indeed, FDR himself faced an attempt to overthrow his government by Dupont and Morgan, which brings to mind some of the more overheated rhetoric coming from the right wing these days.

Democrats will need to be prepared to aggressively respond to such retroactive propaganda efforts by reviewng anc critiquing Jim Powell's books as though it were another piece of hate literature by Jerome Corsi. Otherwise, it will be like John Kerry and swiftboaters. If the anti-semetics can assert the holocaust did not happen, we should not be surprised that the right wing will try to blame FDR for the Great Depression, which began and grew under Republican Herbert Hoover.

Look a Rush Limbaugh trying to call the current recession, "the Obama Recession." The revisionism has begun even before Obama has taken office.

[OHdem10]

1. Most insightful. The Dems had best be prepared to push back

and be on guard. The GOP are not taking this change lying down.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I believe I saw Krugman voice this rebuttal on one of the Sunday AM shows.

It might have been in response to something that George Will said.

[Idealism]

3. On that same note,

The economy was already recovering and showing growth before WWII was on our plate, and if anything, the war exacerbated our recovery putting us years behind where we could have been (not to mention the production and inventions of people who lost their lives due to the war).

[MissMarple]

6. I think growth was uneven in the 30's. !937-38 had another dip.

Various reasons have been given for that. I should probably look it up. :shrug:

[Idealism]

7. The GDP was growing by 38 all the way up to pearl harbor

in 41 steadily. Unemployment, which was at the height of the depression estimated at 33% was cut to 12% by 40. FDR attempted to balance the budget in 37 and it stifled growth, but shortly thereafter the WPA was more heavily invested in, providing jobs to over 3 million americans per year at its height. The war put our economy on the back burner because during so 40% of our labor force made products that didn't yield sustained growth or the multiplier effect of consumer goods. By making a bomb that gets dropped on a German air field you are not creating long term growth, it is a short term boost with no practical use to the country. This is called the 'broken window fallacy,' that a nation in perpetual war is good for economic growth. This is simply not true, past presidents have spoken on the subject and most have got it right. The most persuasive was put forth by Eisenhower in 1953 during one of his speeches. He talked about the 'theft' from the nations citizens a war economy promotes:
"...where the cost of one modern bomber (at that time) costs the same as building a school in 30 cities. One bomber could pay for two fine fully equipped hospitals; we pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat, we pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could've housed 8,000 people. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sence. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging across a vine."

[Median Democrat]

10. Paul Krugman and Alan Brinkley Both Pointed Out That In 1937

FDR gave into conservatives and tried to quickly balance the budget by raising taxes and cutting spending just as the economy was starting to recover. This, of course, plunged the nation back into recession. So, contrary to FDR critics, attempting to balance the budget in the midst of a recession will deepen the recession. Yet, this is exactly what McCain and conservatives were pledging to do. This is why Democrats have to be vigilant against this mis-information, and challenge its fallacies.

It is not just a coincidence that conservatives are now blaming FDR for the Depression. It is part of a larger effort to undermine Obama.

[Idealism]

11. Yeah thats the newest thing for sycophants like Will to do

Like Hoover's economic policies didn't bring us into the depression, or the Fed's refusal to lend money to ailing banks before FDR was in office... revisionism has become to latest trend among conservative think tanks. Limbaugh already refers to our current economic problems as the "Obama recession." I swear, some of these Rethugs pretend like it was the Libertarian party running the country for the past 8 years and they somehow had no hand it what has happened...

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. It's unbelievable that this shit is getting traction. nt

[20score]

5. You're right. They tried to re-write history concerning Viet Nam,

and McCarthyism, also. This needs to be countered. K&R.

[gollygee]

8. OOoooooh somebody was talking about this to me

Some guy was telling me that FDR prolonged the depression and it was all his fault, and I just thought he was crazy. Now I know the truth. He was crazy AND he read a book.

[GeneCosta]

9. They're partially right, but...

...not in the direction they'd like to take it.

Sweden and Germany were the first countries to emerge from the Great Depression - both were the first to use deficit spending. FDR thought it "too easy" of a policy until '38-'39. What caused the '37-'38 recession was the Congress pushing for FDR to balance the budget and cut spending.

[mcg]

12. The right wingnuts are even blaming FDR for the current recession.

In the forums section of Sean Hannity's web site there are comments like

"I am the only one that has a problem with former history professor Newt Gingrich proclaiming that FDR was the greatest president of the twentieth century." (referring to Gingrich's book 'To Renew America')

"socialist, the one who started this mess with all these social programs, sorry welfare."

"he prolonged the depression with his silly, "progressive" plans."

"Can't stand him. He and Wilson set this country up for it's current fall,imho."

***

I heard one of the right-wing talk show hosts, maybe Hannity, claiming that FDR prolonged the depression. This was recently during a panel interview/discussion where the panel answered questions from the audience.

This 'FDR prolonged the depression' claim is being repeated again and again without evidence.

One thing to point out is that the maximum tax rate was greatly reduced down to about 24-25% prior to and during the start of the Great Depression. Another is that there was a lack of regulation of wall street. People were buying stock on margin like crazy, they were very overleveraged. The U.S. was a nation of gambling addicts defying the maxim 'don't bet what you can't afford to lose'. Yet the right-wingers keep claiming that we have too much regulation, that we need 'economic freedom'. There was a good program on TV recently about the stock market crash of 1929 that discussed this overleveraging.

About the attempted coup d'etat ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

[DissedByBush]

13. "Prolonged"

That's prolonged, not caused. The Great Depression had many initiators, several of them government-caused (and not just our government), but of course FDR only pointed to the big bad business boogey man as the cause. The New Deal also likely caused the recession-within-a-depression of 1937.

A recession or depression is like a cold. It's best if allowed to run its course while you get some rest, maybe a bit of cold medicine to make it a bit more bearable. But there is no cure. You'll pay for it later if you try to run around like you don't have a cold; next thing you know you've got pneumonia.

[mdmc]

14. kick