The Forgotten Man
A book that is getting a lot of attention these days is “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression” by Amity Shlaes. Shlaes argues that FDR’s policies prolonged the economic downtown (or at least did not help). Now that we are in another severe recession, her book is being invoked by those who oppose to President Obama’s interventionist measures (such as economic stimulus) as evidence that the New Deal was a failure.
Let’s assume for purposes of discussion that Shlaes is right about the economics. Is that the end of the matter? I don’t think so. The next question is whether activist government was necessary to prevent something worse from happening. I’m not talking about a dictatorship. I’m simply referring to a political movement in favor of even more interventionist or redistributive policies that would have gained traction because the government was not doing enough.
The problem is that there is a forgotten man in “The Forgotten Man” — Huey P. Long. “The Kingfish” of Louisiana became a national figure in 1934 and 1935 with his “Share Our Wealth” movement, which was the organization that he intended to use for a presidential bid in 1936. (Long was assassinated in late 1935). Among other things, he wanted to establish a personal income cap through massive wealth and income taxes to pay for public works and subsidies for the poor. FDR told his aides that he “needed to steal Long’s thunder” in 1935, which led to the proposal of Social Security and a much more modest wealth tax. (FDR was also responding to other protest movements — Father Coughlin and Dr. Francis Townsend come to mind).
Shlaes dismisses the argument that FDR’s policies were worthwhile because they prevented these folks from gaining support. She claims (without much evidence) that Americans were too conservative to be swayed by people like Huey Long. I disagree. If you are interested in reading more about Long and his impact on New Deal constitutionalism (both in life and because of his unexpected death), check out my article on “Huey P. Long and the Guarantee Clause”, which came out in Tulane last Fall.