It's Like Déjà Vu All Over Again

The United States of the early 1930s is eerily similar to the one we have been following in early 2009. A charismatic Democratic President using a severe economic down-turn to justify massive government spending and wealth distributive policies, all the while vilifying achievers and wealth creators, and stifling any hope for prosperity.

In "The Forgotten Man", Amity Schlaes pens a fascinating view of the people most responsible for turning a depression into the Great Depression. Yet, those who are looking for a frontal assault on FDR and the New Deal might be disappointed since the author is remarkably even handed and fair in presenting the "progressive" point of view and rationale. Nevertheless, the historical evidence is damning. The New Dealers may have been successful in creating new dependency groups and future Democratic voting blocks, but they did very little to nothing to help the economy. Indeed, during their tenure Americans began viewing the ongoing economic disaster as a regular part of life. The adventurous, risk taking spirit that made America great laid dormant for over a decade until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

The biggest problem I had with the book, besides the sickening feeling I experienced juxtaposing history with present day events, was that the author mistakenly identified the famed four-horsemen of Notre Dame Football lore as defensive stars.