Symposium on the Great Depression
Staff: Amity Shlaes, Former Hayek Senior Fellow for Political Economy
March 30, 2009 - New York, NY
"History is an argument without end. That is why we love it so."
These words come from the late scholar of the New Deal, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Schlesinger in turn was quoting a colleague, the historian, Pieter Geyl. It is in Schlesinger's collegial spirit that the Council on Foreign Relations and NYU/Stern host scholars to discuss findings new and old about the single most important economic event in America's history, the Great Depression. What caused the Depression? What was the role of financial institutions in panic and recovery? What was the New Deal's role in this crisis? What lessons can we take away for dealing with our current crisis? Given the current challenges to the economy, a second look at that most relevant period becomes crucial. Nobel Prize winning economists, scholars, historians, writers, and policymakers will converge from across the country to both "get granular" and begin to draw broad conclusions in this day-long inquiry.
Cosponsor of this symposium is Dean Thomas Cooley of the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University.
The conference is also supported by a special grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Symposium Summary Report (PDF, 160K)
Meetings
Conference Panel Session
A Second Look at the Great Depression and New Deal, Session One: The 1920s - Bubble, Growth, or Gold?
Introductory Speaker: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations
Panelists: Michael Bordo, Professor of Economics and Director, Center for Monetary and Financial History, Rutgers University
Edward C. Prescott, 2004 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences; W. P. Carey Chair of Economics, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University
Benn Steil, Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations
Richard Sylla, Henry Kaufman Professor of the History of Financial Institutions and Markets, and Professor of Economics, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Presider: Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations
March 30, 2009
Conference Panel Session
A Second Look at the Great Depression and New Deal, Session Two: The Role of Labor Policy
Panelists: Price V. Fishback, Frank and Clara Kramer Professor of Economic History and Labor Economics, University of Arizona
Lee E. Ohanian, Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles
Peter Temin, Elisha Gray II Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Richard K. Vedder, Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics, Ohio University
Presider: John Tamny, Editor, Real Clear Markets
March 30, 2009
Did labor policy under Hoover and Roosevelt make the Depression worse, or pave the way to recovery?
Related Materials:
Transcript: The Role of Labor Policy
Audio: The Role of Labor Policy (Audio)
Video: The Role of Labor Policy (Video)
Price V. Fishback 
Works by Price V. Fishback:
- “The New Deal” chapter in Government and the American Economy: From Colonial Times to the Present. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.
Lee E. Ohanian
Works by Lee E. Ohanian:
Peter Temin
Works by Peter Temin:
Richard K. Vedder 
Works by Richard K. Vedder:
John Tamny
Works by John Tamny:
Conference Panel Session
A Second Look at the Great Depression and New Deal, Session Three: Infrastructure Spending to Grow
Panelists: Jeff Madrick, Director, Policy Research, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, The New School
Ellen R. McGrattan, Monetary Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Nick Taylor, Author, American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA
Anna J. Schwartz, Economist, National Bureau of Economic Research
Presider: Simon Constable, Video Columnist, Dow Jones Newswires
March 30, 2009
What did we learn from the spending programs of the New Deal?
Related Materials:
Transcript: Infrastructure Spending to Grow
Audio: Infrastructure Spending to Grow (Audio)
Video: Infrastructure Spending to Grow (Video)
Jeff Madrick
Works by Jeff Madrick:
Ellen R. McGrattan
Works by Ellen R. McGrattan:
- The 1929 Stock Market: Irving Fisher was Right (Edward C. Prescott and Ellen R. McGrattan, Staff Report 294, The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, December 2003)
- Does Neoclassical Theory Account for the Effects of Big Fiscal Shocks? Evidence From World War II (Ellen R. McGrattan and Lee E. Ohanian, Staff Report 315, The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, November 2008)
- Accounting for the Great Depression (Ellen R. McGrattan, Patrick J. Kehoe, and V. V. Chari; Quarterly Review 2721, The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Spring 2003)
- Business Cycle Accounting (Ellen R. McGrattan, Patrick J. Kehoe, and V. V. Chari; Staff Report 328, The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, December 2006)
Nick Taylor
Articles by Nick Taylor:
Anna J. Schwartz
Works by Anna J. Schwartz:
Simon Constable
View All Meetings
Conference Panel Session
A Second Look at the Great Depression and New Deal, Session Four: Keynote - Why a Second Look Matters
Speaker: Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1995 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences; John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor Economics, University of Chicago
Presider: Carl J. Schramm, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
March 30, 2009
Related Materials:
Transcript: Why a Second Look Matters
Audio: Why a Second Look Matters (Audio)
Video: Why a Second Look Matters (Video)
Robert E. Lucas Jr.
Works by Robert E. Lucas Jr.:
- Macroeconomic Priorities (Robert E. Lucas Jr., The American Economic Review, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Mar., 2003), pp. 1-14)
- Real Wages, Employment, and Inflation (Robert E. Lucas Jr. and Leonard A. Rapping, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 77, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 1969), pp. 721-75)
- Unemployment in the Great Depression: Is There a Full Explanation? (Robert E. Lucas Jr. and Leonard A. Rapping, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 80, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 1972), pp. 186-191)
Carl J. Schramm
Works by Carl J. Schramm:
Roundtable Meeting
A Second Look at the Great Depression and New Deal, Session Five: The New Financial Deal
Panelists: Charles W. Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Division of Finance and Economics, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University
John H. Cochrane, Myron S. Scholes Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Thomas F. Cooley, Dean, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Charles Geisst, Professor of Finance, Manhattan College; Author, Wall Street: A History
Ingo Walter, Seymour Milstein Professor of Finance, Corporate Governance, and Ethics, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University
Presider: Chrystia Freeland, U.S. Managing Editor, The Financial Times
March 30, 2009
Conference Panel Session
A Second Look at the Great Depression and New Deal, Session Six: Today’s Path to Growth - What Do the 1930s Tell Us About Now?
Panelists: Jonathan Alter, Senior Editor and Columnist, Newsweek
Harold Cole, Professor of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
James K. Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government and Business Relations, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin
Amity Shlaes, Senior Fellow for Economic History, Council on Foreign Relations
Presider: James F. Hoge Jr., Peter G. Peterson Chair and Editor, Foreign Affairs
March 30, 2009
Related Materials:
Transcript: The Path to Growth: What Do the 1930s Tell Us About Now?
Audio: The Path to Growth: What Do the 1930s Tell us About Now? (Audio)
Video: The Path to Growth: What Do the 1930s Tell Us About Now? (Video)
Jonathan Alter
Works by Jonathan Alter:
Harold Cole
Works by Harold Cole:
- New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis (Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, Journal of Political Economy, 112(4), 779-816, 2004)
- The International Great Depression: Deflation, Productivity and the Stock Market (Harold L. Cole, Lee E. Ohanian, and Ron Leung, NBER Working Paper 11237, April 2005)
- A Second Look at The U.S. Great Depression From a Neoclassical Perspective (Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review Winter 1999, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 2-24)
James K. Galbraith
Biography
Works by James K. Galbraith:
Amity Shlaes
Senior Fellow for Economic History
Works by Amity Shlaes:
James F. Hoge Jr.
Editor, Peter G. Peterson Chair, Foreign Affairs
