False Dawn
The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947
Format:Hardback
Publisher:The University of Chicago Press
Publishing:23rd Apr '25
£28.00
This title is due to be published on 23rd April, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A definitive history of the United States’ recovery from the Great Depression—and the New Deal's true part in it.
FDR’s New Deal has long enjoyed a special place in American history and policy—both because it redefined the government’s fundamental responsibilities and because Roosevelt’s “bold experimentation” represented a type of policymaking many would like to see repeated.
But “the thing about bold experiments,” economist George Selgin reminds us, “is that they often fail.” In False Dawn Selgin draws on both contemporary sources and numerous studies by economic historians to show that, although steps taken during the Roosevelt administration’s first days raised hopes of a speedy recovery from the Great Depression, instead of fulfilling those hopes, subsequent New Deal policies proved so counterproductive that over seventeen percent of American workers—more than the peak unemployment rate during the COVID-19 crisis—were still either unemployed or on work relief six years later.
By distinguishing the New Deal’s successes from its failures, and explaining how the U.S. finally managed to lay the specter of mass unemployment to rest, Selgin draws salient lessons for dealing with future recessions.
“False Dawn is perhaps one of the best books ever written about the Great Depression. It is thoroughly informed by academic literature, comprehensive in its coverage, balanced in its treatment, and a lively and engaging read. A great achievement.” -- Charles Calomiris | Columbia Business School
"Norman Thomas, six times presidential candidate of the American Socialist Party, and for decades the second most popular speaker in America behind whoever was president, used to complain that the Democrats and FDR had stolen the Socialist Party Platform of 1928. Thomas was right. Read Selgin’s new book and learn why that was a false dawn for the US economy." -- Vernon Smith | Chapman University, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics
“False Dawn is an extraordinary achievement. Economists, historians, and others have been researching the New Deal's recovery programs and policies since the 1930s, but no one has ever done so as comprehensively and astutely as Selgin. False Dawn will be required reading for all who seek to understand how the New Deal affected the course of the Great Depression.” -- Robert Higgs | author of "Depression, War, and Cold War"
“The New Deal is the proverbial elephant grasped by blind men. No one is quite sure what it is. The NRA, the AAA, the RFC? Something else, something more? And did it all add up to recovery or malaise? Selgin has done a great service in writing this comprehensive, engaging, and fair-minded appraisal—one that is destined to become a standard reference.” -- Benn Steil | Council on Foreign Relations
ISBN: 9780226832937
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 454g
384 pages