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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 2h

My conversation with Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen on the New Deal, the Great Depression, donkeys, and much more: m.youtube.com/watch?v=IDXN... Pass it on!

George Selgin on the New Deal and What Ended the Great Depression (live at @catoinstitutevideo)

YouTube video by Conversations with Tyler

m.youtube.com

George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 6d

@delong.social @caroline-fohlin.bsky.social @jpkoning.bsky.social @tkehoe.bsky.social @danrohde.bsky.social @gsignoret.bsky.social @t0nyyates.bsky.social @fvelde.bsky.social

George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 6d

Hear that and many more of my heretical claims about the New Deal and the Great Depression in this recording of my discussion of _False Dawn_ with the @iealondon’s @TomClougherty: m.youtube.com/watch?v=_zptz7…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_zptz7…

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 6d

“Had FDR done all of the things Keynes said he should do, and none of the things Keynes said he shouldn’t do, there would have been—I have no doubt—a much more rapid recovery, a recovery that would have been complete sometime in the last half of the 1930s.” 1/2

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Reposted by George Selgin

Chad Zimmerman @chadzimmerman.bsky.social · 12d

George Will devoted a whole column to @georgeselgin.bsky.social, FALSE DAWN, and our bipartisan dreams about the New Deal:

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Kindred spirits on the left and right believe in a New Deal fable

Donald Trump is leading the most economically interventionist U.S. administration since FDR’s.

www.washingtonpost.com

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 18d

What, you missed my “Conversation with Tyler” yesterday about _False Dawn_, my book on New Deal and the Great Depression? No worries: you can now watch it on YouTube: m.youtube.com/watch?v=01YC...

False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947

YouTube video by The Cato Institute

m.youtube.com

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 22d

Washingtonians! There are still a few seats available for my Conversation with Tyler about _False Dawn_, this Friday at the Cato Institute. Join us if you can. www.cato.org/events/false...

False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947

In this groundbreaking history, Selgin examines the United States’ long and difficult road to recovery from the Great Depression—and the real legacy of the New Deal.

www.cato.org

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 13

If you’ll be in the London area at the start of October, consider coming to the IEA to hear me talk about _False Dawn_. iea.org.uk/in-conversat...

In Conversation with George Selgin

iea.org.uk

George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

BlueSky could use a “sort of like” button, for back-handed compliments!

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

bsky.app/profile/geor...

George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Just about every view you attribute to me here, apart from the ad-hominem stuff (where I work; my supposed politics) is untrue, except the part of not being able to run the US economy. I humbly confess to that.

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Criticize my views all you like—but please (1) don’t misrepresent them, and (2) spare me the ad hominem stuff! If my arguments are wrong, there are better ways to show it than by pointing out where I (used to) work, or what political ideals I (supposedly) hold.

Katie Cannon @katiecannon.bsky.social · Aug 7

Selgin is a so called “libertarian” funded by The CATO institute.

And thinks private banks rather than The Fed should act as the central clearing house.

And FDR removing us from the gold standard meant we no longer borrowed against our gold holdings or anything else

Fed Chair under FDR:

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Finally, you imply that my libertarianism drives my arguments. Might it just be the case that your own anti-libertarianism makes you biased against me, to the point of causing you to misrepresent my opinions?

Just a thought.

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

As for my arguing that private arrangements could handle interbank clearing and settlement instead of CBs, why not? They have done so often in the past, and still do it in many places to some extent even today. It’s not that complicated, after all!

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

If you can find any statement by me contradicting my claims here, I will eat my hat!

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

And I understand as well as anyone who got through a macro principles course (and with no need for help from any MMTer) that taxes are contractionary.

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

By the time FDR took office, I think it was inevitable that then-established U.S. gold standard had to go. Moreover, I’ve long argued that the interwar gold exchange standard was a house of cards.

U.gold

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Every authors’ worst fear! And though I have great respect for DeLong’s work, I cannot say the same for Rauchway, who seems keen on perpetuating myths, such as that FDR embraced Keynes’s ideas, and that the New Deal was a program well thought out when FDR took office.

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Eccles was a keen proponent of fiscal stimulus. Alas, he was just a keen an opponent of monetary stimulus. And since he was Fed chair, in practice his influence was mainly on the anti-stimulus side.

Katie Cannon @katiecannon.bsky.social · Aug 7

Selgin is a so called “libertarian” funded by The CATO institute.

And thinks private banks rather than The Fed should act as the central clearing house.

And FDR removing us from the gold standard meant we no longer borrowed against our gold holdings or anything else

Fed Chair under FDR:

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Just about every view you attribute to me here, apart from the ad-hominem stuff (where I work; my supposed politics) is untrue, except the part of not being able to run the US economy. I humbly confess to that.

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Jun 16

A kind review of _False Dawn_ for the WSJ by Judge Glock. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

‘False Dawn’ Review: The Mirage of Recovery

America’s leaders in the 1930s subjected the country to a series of bizarre economic experiments. Most of them backfired.

www.wsj.com

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Mar 20

Administration officials are comparing the tariff-induced downturn to “detox” therapy. A more precise analogy would be to leeching.

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Mar 19

Thanks for this generous praise, Mike!

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Mar 18

Yours truly on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Boondoggle: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/18/o...

Trump’s ‘Strategic Bitcoin Reserve’ makes no sense - The Boston Globe

The list of justifications for a government bitcoin stockpile is long, not because there are many good ones, but because there are none, so the schemes’ apologists must keep trying.

www.bostonglobe.com

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Mar 11

Wow: a very detailed and thoughtful—and kind!—review of _False Dawn_ by Scott @MoneyIllusion Sumner. Thanks, Scott! scottsumner.substack.com/p/false-dawn?u…

False Dawn

George Selgin on the New Deal

https://scottsumner.substack.com/p/false-dawn?u…

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · Mar 10

Thanks, David!