We know the Fed inflated during the 1920s and set the stage for the bust, but some people say that if only the Fed had inflated during the 1930s, things would have improved. This is wrong on every conceivable level — and in fact, the Fed tried its best to inflate in the 1930s. It’s very important for us to get this right, because we’ve got the Keynesians and the Friedmanites united against us. We clear up the Fed’s real record during the Depression in today’s episode.
About the Guest
Jeffrey M. Herbener is chairman of the department of economics at Grove City College and associate editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He has also produced economics courses for Liberty Classroom.
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Get Jeff’s course, smashing a mainstream economics textbook chapter by chapter, as a bonus when you become a Supporting Listener of the show at the Silver level or higher! Check it out.
Book Mentioned
America’s Great Depression, by Murray N. Rothbard
Articles Mentioned
“Money and Gold in the 1920s and 1930s: An Austrian View,” by Joseph T. Salerno
“Is Milton Friedman a Keynesian?” by Roger W. Garrison
Related Episodes
Ep. 619 Rothbard’s Depression Analysis: More Relevant Than Ever (Antony Mueller)
Ep. 419 Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Answering the Critics (David Howden)
Ep. 418 The Truth About One of Those Pre-Fed Depressions (Patrick Newman)
Ep. 289 Austrian Economics vs. the Mainstream (Randall Holcombe)
Ep. 282 Jim Grant on the Forgotten Depression (Jim Grant)
Ep. 118 Boom and Bust: The Cause (David Howden)
Previous Appearances
Ep. 529 Leftist Site Attacks Gold Standard; Here’s Our Smackdown (Joe Salerno and Jeff Herbener)
Ep. 527 Is Austrian Economics Unscientific Because It Doesn’t Conduct Experiments?
Ep. 513 Can We Decide on a Main Problem with Socialism? Also: Why the Austrians Are Right About Monopoly
Ep. 488 Welfare Economics: Rothbard Was Right
Ep. 456 Monopoly Is Everywhere, Say Mainstream Economists; Austrians Roll Eyes
Ep. 403 Austrian Microeconomics: Where the Critics Go Wrong
Ep. 269 End the Fed, Then What?
Ep. 257 Austrian Economics vs. a Mainstream Text
Ep. 172 The Fallacies of GDP
Ep. 130 The Fallacies of ‘Public Goods’
Listener Website Mentioned
Other Podcast
Enjoy the Tom Woods Show? You’ll love my once-a-week podcast with Bob Murphy, Contra Krugman!
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