Rothbard’s America’s Great Depression
Professor Jonathan Newman joins the show for a look at America’s Great Depression, Rothbard’s classic explanation of a terrible period in US history. This book provides one of the best short surveys of Austrian business cycle theory, along with deep history surrounding the inflationary run-up of the 1920s and the disastrous mistakes made by the “laissez-faire” Hoover administration in the 1930s. Any serious student of booms and busts needs to read this cautionary tale, as does anyone worried about unconstrained monetary policy in the wake of Covid-19 lockdowns. It can happen here, and it can happen again, if Rothbard’s counsel goes unheard.
