The New New Deal, Cato Style

The Cato Institute weighs in on the implications of the New Deal for the Obama Administration with a conference featuring the journalist Amity Shlaes, to be held at the Cato's headquarters in Washington on June 1. The announcement for the conference, "Brother, Can You Spare a Trillion: Lessons from the New Deal and the Great Depression," commences:

With the economy in a deep recession and policymakers turning to massive government intervention in an attempt to create jobs and bolster the financial system—it feels like the 1930s all over again. Today’s new New Deal is rapidly unfolding, with the Obama administration and many lawmakers making it clear that any question of the success of FDR’s New Deal policies was resolved long ago: government intervention worked, and history bears repeating.

However, there are deep disagreements about the New Deal, and whether Roosevelt’s policies deepened the depression and delayed recovery.

Join us at the Cato Institute on June 1 to be a part of a highly informative half-day conference. Recognized national experts will discuss the economic and legal impact of the New Deal, and how its legacy is being used and misused to shape policy responses to current economic hardships.

The program is here, but if you want a really good shot at the same issues by a thoughtful historian, try Anthony Badger's downloadable lecture on the Gilder Lehrman's website, FDR’s First 100 Days . . . and Obama’s.