Mises Wire

The Economic Crash that Cured Itself: A Conversation with James Grant

James Grant's Forgotten Depression

From the Library of Law and Liberty: 

What if a profound economic downturn occurred and the federal government basically ignored it? Couldn’t happen, right? In his latest book, The Forgotten Depression, James Grant details for us the depression of 1921 and how it was permitted to cure itself. We discuss in this podcast how the Wilson* and Harding administrations let prices and wages fall, balanced the budget, and raised interest rates through the Federal Reserve. The result was a painful and, more importantly, quick depression that righted itself by late 1921, setting the stage for the economic growth of the 1920s.

 

Grant details for us that we once took a different path in the wake of economic distress, one that ended the pain faster, and didn’t grow government and diminish freedom. It is a history worth telling.

 

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