A brief popular exposition of the contrary view, based largely on Murrray
Rothbard's _America's_Great_Depression_ appears in _Insight_, "Federal
Meddling Made History", Stephen Goode, (16 February 1998), pp. 18-19. Here
are some excerpts:
In the past, depressions had lasted "a year or two", Rothbard notes...
Government in the 1920s proved inflationary in a number of ways. The
Federal Reserve System, which had been created in 1913, was a major
culprit...[I]t insisted on on an enforce the very low and very
inflationary rate on acceptances...[Fed governor] Strong and the New
York Federal Reserve bank were the main generators of inflation and
and cheap credit, but not the only ones. The Treasury Department was
another source....
I've read elsewhere that Milton Friedman's _Monetary_History_of_the_United_
_States_[?] gives good evidence that the Fed disastrously shrank the money
supply _after_ the Depression started, which helped ensure the downturn's
depth and longevity.
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We are ready to accept almost any explanation of the present crisis of our
civilization except one: that the present state of the world may be the
result of genuine error on our own part and that the pursuit of some of our
most cherished ideals has apparently produced results utterly different from
those which we expected. --- Friedrich A. Hayek, _The_Road_To_Serfdom_
Alan F. Barksdale afbarksd@ingr.com
203 Utica Place, #4 (home) 205-830-6601
Huntsville, AL 35806 USA (work) 205-730-3764
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