Robert Murphy puts together in one easy package the research of hundreds of scholars, showing that it was not capitalism that failed in 1929 but the boom times created by Fed credit expansion. Murphy takes aim at the Chicago School economists and the Keynesians who continued to be in denial on this central point.
A particularly great feature here for Austrians dealing with monetarist myths: Murphy explains that the deflation in the 1930s didn’t have to be somehow devastating. It was not egregious by historical standards, and was fully compatible with economic growth. In fact, the Fed tried but failed to flood the economy with money in the 1930s. Here Murphy provides a very compelling explanation of fractional-reserve banking and its effect on the supply of money.
He further shows that Hoover was not a free-market president. His policies were so statist that he might as well have been a Soviet agent. His biggest critic, who blasted him for his spending and centralization, was none other than FDR. But once FDR came to power, he enacted the longest string of cockamamie, prosperity-killing measures of any president in American history.
Murphy dissects the real history here with facts, analysis, clear prose, suggestions for further reading, fantastic quotations from all the main players, and even when he is discussing complicated data, he never leaves the reader behind.
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Robert P. Murphy is a Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute. He is the author of numerous books: Contra Krugman: Smashing the Errors of America’s Most Famous Keynesian; Chaos Theory; Lessons for the Young Economist; Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action; The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism; Understanding Bitcoin (with Silas Barta), among others. He is also host of The Human Action Podcast and The Bob Murphy Show.
The Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) crowd prides itself on fidelity to actual history. But Murphy shows how leading MMT guru Randall Wray completely distorts his discussion of two historical episodes in his college lecture.
Bob challenges the conventional wisdom around Triffin’s dilemma, arguing that persistent U.S. trade deficits aren’t necessary for dollar dominance—and that Ron Paul had it right all along.
Jonathan Newman joins Bob to explore the archaeological evidence for silver as money in ancient Mesopotamia, challenging Modern Monetary Theory and affirming Menger’s classic account of money’s market origins.
