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| Rethinking the Great Depression (American Ways Series) | 
 enlarge | List Price: $12.95
Buy New: $11.65
You Save: $1.30 (10%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 10 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10696
Category: Book
Author: Gene Smiley
Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Studio: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Label: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 6.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 1566634717
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.9730917
EAN: 9781566634717
ASIN: 1566634717
Publication Date: September 25, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Drawing upon recent economic scholarship to present a clear and nontechnical analysis, Mr. Smiley offers new insights and some surprising conclusions about the causes of the Great Depression, the consequences of the New Deal, and the economic effects of World War II. An accessible survey...challenges the popular belief that the Great Depression demonstrates the instability of markets and the need for goevernment oversight and direction. --Journal of Economic Literature. A widely accessible and clearly written summary of the main causes of the Great Depression and its legacy for economic policy. --David C. Wheelock, EH.Net
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Timely Read For All December 22, 2008
Timely topic.
Given the financial and political environment in 2008 and looking forward, this book is a must read for all -- essentially a primer on the Great Depression.
The book is straightforward, concise and easy to read.
Coupled with Amity Schlaes' "The Forgotten Man: A New History of The Great Depression," these two books may be the most important books to read in the upcoming months, lest we repeat the very expensive economic mistakes of the past.
 Required Reading November 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Considering the current economic environment, this book should be read by anyone who wants to understand the differences between what really happened during a very, very difficult time in history vs. the odious comparisons some have made to it in an attempt to describe our present crisis. I found this book by reading Amity Schlaes very good book, "The Forgotten Man." Her book drew some very interesting contrasts to Conrad Black's epic biography of FDR.
Although an academic, Smiley writes so clearly and picks his themes so wisely that, like Amity's telling book, I now understand the Depression to have been unnecessarily prolonged by government intrusion and the unwise application of high taxes and tariffs.
The book is brief enough and well researched so that I can hardly add more here other than to highly recommend it.
This is the Primer September 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is simple, clear and accurate. I've turned to it over and over again and can't recommend it too highly. Smiley is especially good when he gets to the second half of the 1930s. I have one copy at the office, one copy at home and carry one around in my backpack when there's room. Also great: Jim Powell's "FDR's Folly," "The Great Depression" by Thomas E Hall and J David Ferguson, Allan Meltzer, and of course Friedman and Schwartz. Superb but hard to get: Lester V Chandler.
 Brief monetarist review of 1930s US economic policy November 23, 2007
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is a brief and relatively easy to read monetarist review of 'the great depression'. As such, it is unclear to what "rethinking" in the title might refer. My guess is that the author is rethinking Keynes, though more time is spent on FDR. Since the difference between Keynes and monetarists is subtle to all but Keynesians and monetarists, I wouldn't recommend this as a introduction to the subject, nor as a survey.
The text presents a matter of fact narrative, starting in 1929 and ending with the war efforts of 1940. The author asserts that uncoordinated national monetary policies and shrinking money supplies were the Great Depression's cause. The relationship between gold and the national currency is used to measure the success or failure of national monetary policy over time. Unaware of the relationship between money supply and economic goals (full employment, growth, etc), both Hoover and FDR made the necessary economic correction prolonged and painful. According to the author, the misguided new deal programs started by FDR have taken on a life of their own. The problems posed by 'New Deal' government programs consumes most of the concluding remarks. To end the book, Smiley writes "What failed in the 1930s were governments, in their eagerness to direct activity to achieve political ends... Attempts to stop international financial markets from working through the gold standard brought on the depression. Government efforts to combat the depression ... made the depression much longer and more severe in the United States. Government attempts to reshape American society ... helped create a depression within the depression.'
Though one might think this comes across as a polemic against FDR and what the author calls 'socialism', the author takes pains to show that everyone, including all the economists, misunderstood the 'depression'. Despite his confident narrative, the author doesn't exclude himself in this assessment. In a telling comment near the end of the book, Smiley states 'Still, our continued inability to develop econometric models that can accurately predict contractions means that we will not be free of them.'
Excellent introduction to the Great Depression March 27, 2006
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Smiley has done a fantastic job with this book. It is well organized and very easy to read. He makes a statement and then follows up with the data and information necessary to support that statement. The second chapter on the cause of the great depression is my favorite and after finishing the book I went through that chapter again to really drill the information in. This book should be required reading for all college students. I normally give books away after reading them but I won't be giving this one away.
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