'Forgotten' people: a revealing history that's very depressing!
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Despite my heading, I enjoyed reading this book and I believe that Amity Shlaes has provided information and made revelations regarding a period following which, as always, the victors wrote up the history and hid the mistakes. The thing is, was the four-term President Roosevelt a fool or was he a conniving shyster, trying his hardest to destroy capitalism at home and the British Empire overseas? I still don't know, but I have my suspicions, as did Winston Churchill. For me, the most important information in the book was that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt surrounded themselves with - not to put too fine a point on it - communists, communist sympathisers and communist spies. (If readers of this review want to know their ignominious names, then they should buy or borrow the book!). We suffered the same in England, too, for some of our post-World War II Governments were of the same ilk. The latters' excuses, however, were more unforgivable than those of FDR's people, for the evils of Stalin's Soviet Union after the War were all too clear to anyone with eyes to see or ears to hear. For example, I can never forgive Mr Roosevelt and Marshal Stalin, with an exhausted and powerless Winston looking on, carving up the ruins of Europe at the Yalta conference in 1945. It took another 44 years for poor Poland's freedom to be restored and, by then, the Poles' country had literally been moved. The book, which is well-researched and well-punctuated but less well-written, is mostly about what led up to that evil debacle, however, and it has been helpful to me to 'see' how FDR's mind was working prior to the War. Sure, the depression was a very major crisis, but how differently it might have been dealt with under, say, a Wendell Willkie (probably the book's 'hero,' not Andrew Mellon as someone has suggested), a conservative Democrat until he was driven into the arms of the Republican Party and did pretty impressively in the 1940 election - what a shame he ended as he did, too young to die and a Republican to boot!
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Caveat Presidents: The Dangers of Reaching Beyond Your Understanding
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Prior to FDR becoming president, federal government actions seldom had much effect on the economy or the nation's culture. The exceptions were when the federal government waged war, tampered with the currency or the money supply, or indulged in social experiments (like Prohibition). Prior to Hoover, there was usually a social consensus that the government that did the least was best.
Amity Shlaes' anecdotal history of the Great Depression highlights the dangers that occur when government begins to intervene in the economy and social structure in too many ways, too quickly, and too intrusively.
One of the key mysteries of the Great Depression was why the U.S. economy was hit so much harder than the British one. Some economists argue that a more established economy will experience fewer perturbations during a global recession or depression because those concerned about safety will seek out the oldest financial markets. Ms. Shlaes suggests that the Americans meddled too much and scared off investments.
The book's title is drawn an example of flawed government legislation described by William Graham Sumner in 1883 where two parties seek to help a third party in a way that requires a fourth party to participate . . . but without considering the effect on the fourth party -- the forgotten man who "always pays." Interestingly, the book points out the many different people who were identified by politicians of the era as the forgotten man.
Ms. Shlaes' story focuses on the class warfare that FDR conducted against business executives, wealthy people in general, and shareholders . . . and how that class warfare encouraged those groups to behave in ways that made the depression deeper and longer lasting than it would have been without the class warfare.
The story of the Great Depression is told by following the lives of a number of people who were prominent as government leaders (such as Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and FDR), members of government (such as FDR's brain trust and Felix Frankfurter), industrial and financial leaders (Andrew Mellon, Samuel Insull, and Wendell Willkie), Supreme Court justices, those involved in key law suits that challenged the New Deal, religious and social leaders (Father Divine), and those who addressed the social ills of the time more directly (Bill Wilson's founding of Alcoholics Anonymous). This approach makes for good reading, but light understanding.
Anyone wanting to attach causes to effects will be disappointed in the book. While many connections are suggested, the analysis to back up those connections is missing. Fans of FDR will feel like he is unfairly expected to be perfect. Those who are concerned about giving the most people a sense of being treated fairly will feel like that aspect of the book is underdeveloped.
Did FDR make mistakes? Yes. Did Herbert Hoover make mistakes? Yes. Did the Federal Reserve make mistakes? Yes. Did Congress make mistakes? Yes. But you knew that already.
The main benefit of this book is that you'll get to know the supporting cast from those times (especially those who were initially very impressed by the Soviet Union) much better than you would have otherwise. That will enrich your appreciation of the mental set and tenor of the times.
If you would like to know more about the history of public electrical power, you'll also find this book to be a helpful resource,
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