I did not anticipate writing a favorable review of a book by Garry Wills. He veered fairly early in his career from a quirky form of conservatism to a run-of-the mill leftism.
The paradox is that if Nock had but known it, Columbia College in his day was the nearest approximation to the ideal set forth in his lectures.
The myth of the Great Depression being caused by laissez-faire capitalism — and being solved by either the New Deal, World War II, or both — is so prevalent that in popular-opinion surveys, Franklin Delano Roosevelt routinely appears in the top five of all US presidents, while the name of Herbert Hoover has become synonymous with government inaction during an economic crisis.
"They took care of themselves and recognized that having freedom means the freedom to fail as well as to succeed."
Understanding economics helps you see history better. American workers, although only lightly unionized, were more productive than others. All high standards of living are due to free markets. Governments destroy this.
"The 'two-party system' in the United States now consisted of two conservative parties and no liberal party."
Stolyarov reviews Robert P. Murphy’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (2009).
"As well as repudiating the Mississippi Union Bank bonds in 1840, the state effectively repudiated the debts owed to the state banks."
"War is the apotheosis of Power, the ultimate expression of the faith and solidification of its achievement."
"Thus, the famous 'one-in-eight' hungry Americans include all Americans living in households that, until 2005, were described as food insecure, but without hunger."
