Brief History of the Great Depression

Investor’s Business Daily has an excerpt from Thomas Sowell’s new book Intellectuals and Society, which outlines the policies which cause the great depression. For instance, Sowell notes that unemployment never reached 10% in the 12 month following the 1929 stock market crash – but never dropped below 20% in 35 months following government interventions.

Sowell highlights how

• The federal reserve mistakenly raised interest rates and shrunk the money supply while banks were failing.
• How Congress passed the Smoot Hawley tariffs to “save” American jobs…after which unemployment jumped from 6% to 25% in two years.
• How Hoover and later FDR increased taxes on upper income brackets, and tried to force companies not to cut wage

It is well worth the read.