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home > by publication type > academic modules > Academic Module: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
November 20, 2008
| Author: | Amity Shlaes, Senior Fellow for Economic History |
|---|
This module features teaching notes by Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, along with other resources to supplement the text. In her book, Miss Shlaes asserts that the real question about the Depression is not whether Roosevelt ended it with World War II, but why the Depression lasted so long. She argues that federal intervention between 1929 and 1940 unnecessarily deepened and prolonged the Depression.
What is a CFR Academic Module?
Academic Modules—featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications—are designed to assist educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video, audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.
June 2007
| Author: | Amity Shlaes, Senior Fellow for Economic History |
|---|
In this timely book, Amity Shlaes offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression. She traces the mounting agony of the New Dealers and the moving stories of individual citizens who, through their brave perseverance, helped establish the steadfast character we recognize as American today.
Graphics and multimedia explainers on the foreign policy, national security, and international financial issues of the day.
CFR.org Backgrounders are succinct explanations of current political and economic issues.
October 2, 2008
| Author: | Lee Hudson Teslik |
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A look at the current U.S. financial regulatory framework, delineating the different agencies tasked with monitoring U.S. financial institutions and their respective roles.
Updated: July 7, 2009
| Author: | Lee Hudson Teslik |
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A look at the basics of the North American Free Trade Agreement, its overall economic impact, and its effect on workers in the United States.
July 12, 2007
| Author: | Lee Hudson Teslik |
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New York remains a global heavyweight in financial services, but markets in London and East Asia are gaining strength and posing a serious challenge to the Big Apple.
July 2008
| Author: | Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Senior Fellow for International Economics |
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In this book, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how preferential trade agreements have recreated the unhappy situation of the protectionist 1930s, when world trade was undermined by discriminatory practices, and argues that the world trading system is definitely at risk again.
September 2007
| Author: | Robert J. LaLonde, Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago |
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Council Special Report No. 30
A flexible labor market and an open economy are crucial to economic competitiveness, but can sometimes cause prime-aged and older workers to suffer large, long-term income losses. This report explains why existing government programs, which emphasize retraining and insurance for short-term job loss, don't assuage workers' fears about globalization. It also proposes a shift of resources from existing programs to wage insurance.
November/December 2008
| Author: | James Grant |
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Summary
The next president must bring back a sound dollar, rein in Wall Street, and resist the urge to manipulate prices.
July/August 2007
| Authors: | Kenneth Scheve Matthew J. Slaughter, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Business and Globalization |
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Summary
Globalization has brought huge overall benefits, but earnings for most U.S. workers -- even those with college degrees -- have been falling recently; inequality is greater now than at any other time in the last 70 years. Whatever the cause, the result has been a surge in protectionism. To save globalization, policymakers must spread its gains more widely. The best way to do that is by redistributing income.
May/June 2007
| Authors: | Stuart E. Eizenstat Marney Cheek |
|---|
Summary
Protectionist sentiment on Capitol Hill threatens to scuttle Washington's free-trade agenda. A bipartisan consensus on trade could emerge, but only if the White House and the Democrats can reach a compromise on labor issues.
November 13, 2008
| Author: | Peter Beinart, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy |
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Peter Beinart writes that, in the Obama era, liberalism could again become America's ruling creed.
September 22, 2008
| Author: | Niall Ferguson |
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Financial Times contributing editor Niall Ferguson says the use of low interest rates and deficit finance may have been right during the Depression but are not appropriate for the current financial crisis. Reflecting on the comments of the two presidential candidates about the crisis, Ferguson writes the election will become "a contest between two brands of economic populism."
June 5, 2008
| Author: | Amity Shlaes, Senior Fellow for Economic History |
|---|
People these days fear inflation. In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Amity Shlaes examines President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s move away from the gold standard in 1933 and the implications of the end of the “gold clause” as an inflation hedge.
June 25, 2007
| Author: | Amity Shlaes, Senior Fellow for Economic History |
|---|
Amity Shlaes argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, government intervention during the Great Depression may have done much to slow economic recovery rather than driving it.
November 14, 2007
Amity Shlaes, CFR’s senior fellow for economic history, examines the current swing toward U.S. trade protectionism in the context of U.S. trade history.
November 7, 2007
Representative Ron Kind (D-WI) interviewed by Robert McMahon, Acting Editor
A Wisconsin congressman says the time is ripe to reform the massive farm bill to make U.S. farmers more independent and competitive
Lively week-long exchanges between two experts on a foreign policy topic in the news, conducted via email and posted on CFR.org.
Updated: March 18, 2008
Jeffrey J. Schott, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Thea M. Lee, policy director for the AFL-CIO, debate what the next president should do on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Updated February 1, 2008
Jonathan Jacoby of the Center for American Progress and Robert Lane Greene of the Economist debate the shape of trade policy for the next U.S. administration.
May 20, 2008
| Author: | Benn Steil, Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics |
|---|
In this testimony, Benn Steil argues that the rise in financial speculation in commodities reflects the collapse of a "currency bubble," as investors react to the re-emergence of inflation and the decline of the dollar.
January 30, 2007
| Author: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
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May 2006
Author: Jonathan Alter, senior editor, Newsweek
September 2004
Author: Jim Powell, R. C. Hoiles senior fellow, Cato Institute
July 2003
Author: Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
September 2003
Author: Gene Smiley
Visit Amity Shlaes's blog at CFR's Geoeconomic Center where she discusses both contemporary and historical economic issues.
The Library of Economics and Liberty offers a unique combination of resources for students, teachers, and researchers focused on the study of economics, markets, and liberty.
The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute (FERI) created The New Deal Network to serve as research and teaching resource devoted to the public works and arts projects of the New Deal.
The Financial Crisis: Long Term Implications
| Speakers: | Greg Ip, U.S. Economics Editor, The Economist |
|---|---|
| David Leonhardt, Columnist, The New York Times | |
| Sebastian Mallaby, Director, R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies; Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics, Council on Foreign Relations | |
| Presider: | Kevin Nealer, Partner, The Scowcroft Group |
As Congress works to reach consensus on a financial bailout plan, questions about the long term consequences remain. Join our speakers to examine the complexity of the financial crisis and its proposed solution.
**PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will also be broadcast as a conference call.
Transcript: The Financial Crisis: Long Term Implications
Audio: The Financial Crisis: Long Term Implications (Audio)
The Global Credit Crunch: What Should a Central Bank Do?
| Speakers: | Martin S. Feldstein, President, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Allan H. Meltzer, Professor of Political Economy, Carnegie Mellon University, Visiting Scholar,American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research | |
| Presider: | David R. Malpass, Chief Economist, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. |
The McKinsey Executive Roundatble Series in International Economics is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and the Corporate Program.
Audio: The Global Credit Crunch: What Should a Central Bank Do? (Audio)
Video: The Global Credit Crunch: What Should a Central Bank Do? (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
| Speaker: | Amity Shlaes, Visiting Senior Fellow for Geoeconomics, Council on Foreign Relations; Author, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Harold M. Evans, Author, The American Century |
5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Reception
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Meeting
7:00 – 7:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception and Book Signing
Transcript: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
Audio: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (Audio)
Video: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism: And the Economics of Growth and Prosperity
| Speakers: | Robert E. Litan, Vice President for Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Coauthor, Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism |
|---|---|
| Carl J. Schramm, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Coauthor, Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism | |
| Presider: | Amity Shlaes, Visting Senior Fellow for Geoeconomics Studies, Council on Foreign Relations |
In their new book, authors Robert Litan and Carl Schramm document four different varieties of capitalism, some good and some bad for growth. They examine how countries catching up to the United States can move faster toward the economic frontier, while laying out the need for the United States itself to stick to and reinforce the recipe for growth that has enabled it to be the leading economic force in the world.
12:15 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Meeting
This meeting is cosponsored by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies.
Transcript: "Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity" [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Audio: Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity (Audio)
Video: Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
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