The Forgotten Man

Well, I've finished Amity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (mentioned in the 1920s thread). I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in taking a critical look at our government's economic policies in the 1930s. The Economist called it the decade when the U.S. "forgot how to grow." Government policies were to blame.

I'd especially recommend the chapter on the Schechter Supreme Court decision. The Schechters were immigrant poultry butchers from Brooklyn. FDR's NRA cited them for various violations, including allowing their customers to choose the chicken they butchered. The case drew guffaws of derision at the Supreme Court, and underscored how far the federal government went to micromanage the economy. Fortunately, the NRA effectively died with the Schechter case.

I'd be interested in hearing reactions from anyone who's read this book.

I thought The Forgotten Man} was excellent and would join you in recommending it. Last summer Ms. Shales was on a number of shows of KCRWs Left, Right, & Center and her presence led the group into interesting considerations of the long term issues facing the nation. I also see that she is involved as a co- organizer of a conference sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations on reconsidering the New Deal. See the link below. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/arts/04depr.html?ref=books

I have not read Forgotten Man but it sounds like a good book. My favorite book on the depression is The Year of the Great Crash, 1929. The author's explanation of the stock market margin and how it ate up all of the capital in the country was the first explanation of the cause of the depression that made sense to me. The NRA was probably the closest we ever came to socialism. I always remember the Schecter case as "The little chicken that killed the blue eagle".