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The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies

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Don't Waste your time
Rigorous scholarship, accessible and enjoyable read
An irritating mish-mash
A Wonderful Summary
A wonderful summary of events leading to The Great Depressio

The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies
Thomas E. Hall , and J. David Ferguson
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0472066676

Book Description

The Great Depression was the worst economic catastrophe in modern history. Not only did it cause massive worldwide unemployment, but it also led to the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, World War II in Europe, and the tragic deaths of tens of millions of people. This book describes the sequence of policy errors committed by powerful, well-meaning people in several countries, which, in combination with the gold standard in place at the time, caused the disaster. In addition, it details attempts to reduce unemployment in the United States by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and in Germany by Hitler's National Socialist economic policies.

A comprehensive economic and historical explanation of the events pertaining to the Depression, this book begins by describing the economic setting in the major industrialized countries during the 1920s and the gold standard that linked theory economies together. It then discusses the triggering event that started the economic decline--the Federal Reserve's credit tightening in reaction to perceived overspeculation in the U.S. stock market. The policy bungling that transformed the recession into the Great Depression is detailed: Smoot Hawley, the Federal Reserve's disastrous adherence to the real bills doctrine, and Hoover's 1932 tax hike. This is followed by a detailed description of the New Deal's shortcomings in trying to end the Depression, along with a discussion of the National Socialist economic programs in Germany. Finally, the factors that ended the Depression are examined.

This book will appeal to economists, historians, and those interested in business conditions who would like to know more about the causes and consequences of the Great Depression. It will be particularly useful as a supplementary text in economic history courses.

Thomas E. Hall and J. David Ferguson are both Professors of Economics, Miami University.

Customer Reviews:

Don't Waste your time.......2004-05-06

This was a very hard to read, boring book that outlines the same basic principles for hundreds of pages. Don't bother - there are much better books out there.

Rigorous scholarship, accessible and enjoyable read.......2002-05-20

I have never submitted a "reader's review" to Amazon, but have to add mine here after noting the one negative review below. All the other positive reviewers have it right. This book hits the mark and does exactly what it appears to be designed to do. It is accessible for a broad spectrum of readers, while maintaining a rigorous scholarly standard. And, amazingly, it is an enjoyable read, for both scholars AND graduate and undergraduate students (and maybe the intellectually curious non-fiction reader?). I hope the one rambling (and somewhat odd?) negative review will be dismissed by Amazon visitors. In my opinion, this is a book which should be read by anyone who wants to understand the complex forces and historical context which resulted in the Great Depression.

An irritating mish-mash.......2001-04-10

If you have no idea what happened to the world economy in the two decades following WW1, then this little book is a great primer. It contains a lovely chronology of events, discusses in a simplistic way how the gold standard actually worked, how the real bills doctrine impeded effective monetary loosening and how Roosevelt prolonged the depression. It's a (mostly) monetarist view and easy to understand at that.

On a second read though, 'The Great Depression' becomes very irritating; for three reasons....

The first is its changing view of the causes of decline and recovery. It starts out monetarist but ends up closer to the Austrian view that government intervention and socialism prolonged the recovery. You can't be both, although the authors try very hard.

The second problem is the use of history. Many historically minded authors have made a big issue of the vicious Versailles Peace Treaty and its role in destabilising the international payments system. Hall and Ferguson hardly mention international issues. Instead, they waffle on about Hitler's evil labour policies, but forget to mention their effect. Huge capital flows left Europe for the New World in the mid-1930s and these played a very significant role in boosting US money supply and spurring recovery.

The third problem is the book's very simplistic economics. At the heart of the problem was the issue of real exchange rate adjustment amongst Gold Standard members. The authors make no attempt to explain the extent of the adjustment problems when members faced either hyperinflation or balance of payments deficits after 1918.

Countries facing BOP deficits with newly enfranchised labour forces were in no position to use traditional means of real exchange rate adjustment - i.e. deflation - to bring their currencies and payments accounts back into line. Social unrest was everywhere. Impossible strain was placed on domestic economies as interest rates went up. And when Austrian bank, Bank Kredit-Anstalt, failed, the international payments system fell apart and asset prices collapsed. No one had the guts to raise rates to hold currencies within their trading ranges.

Hall and Ferguson gloss over the international angle as if it was irrelevant. They could at least have tried to explain why they thought it wasn't important or didn't play a central role.

All told, I'd recommend this book to anyone coming across this fascinating period for the first time. But there are much better books out there. Also, parochial books with constant references to us and ours when referring to the US and its institutions are really tiresome to non-US readers.

Two stars for the technical bits, the chronology and the details of Roosevelt's New Deal.

A Wonderful Summary.......2001-03-29

Hall and Ferguson do an excellent job of summarizing the mainstream view of economists on why the Depression happened, and those views will surprise some. Was the Depression caused by some structural defect in Capitalism? "No," say Hall and Ferguson. It was due to a combination of economic ignorance, confusion, and incompetence in the Federal Reserve System. The authors do a wonderful job of explaining how the conventional wisdom of the day, the commercial loan theory of banking, led policy makers into a series of blunders that seem incomprehensible today to anyone who knows basic economics. As for the New Deal, Hall and Ferguson argue that except for deposit insurance and gold policy, most of it was irrelevant or counterproductive and contributed only to slowing the recovery after 1933.

If you want to read only one book and still understand why the Great Depression happened, read this one.

A wonderful summary of events leading to The Great Depressio.......1999-11-01

Hall and Ferguson offer a great review of the events leading to and prolonging the Great Depression. This event was experienced around the world and this books explains why. As a student of Macroeconomics in today's world, it is fascinating to go back in time before the term "macroeconomics" was in existence. Poor policy choices and the desire to hold onto the Gold Standard outline the events leading to this worldwide tragedy. A wonderful summary of history and economic policy than anyone can follow.

The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies.(Review): An article from: Southern Economic Journal

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The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies.(Review): An article from: Southern Economic Journal
George Selgin
Manufacturer: Southern Economic Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00098LK8Y
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Southern Economic Journal, published by Southern Economic Association on January 1, 1999. The length of the article is 2074 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies.(Review)
Author: George Selgin
Publication: Southern Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 1999
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Volume: 65 Issue: 3 Page: 653(4)

Article Type: Book Review

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The Great Depression Revisited.(Review): An article from: Independent Review

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The Great Depression Revisited.(Review): An article from: Independent Review
Roger W. Garrison
Manufacturer: Independent Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Independent Review, published by Independent Institute on March 22, 1999. The length of the article is 4138 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Great Depression Revisited.(Review)
Author: Roger W. Garrison
Publication: Independent Review (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1999
Publisher: Independent Institute
Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Page: 595(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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