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Ron Davis's Reviews > American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold
American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold
by
by
As I read the first few paragraphs of the intro, I thought, "Oh, dear! Have I got a book by a crank?" I returned to the dust-jacket to affirm this fellow was a "real economist" then decided to give it a few pages before throwing into the dust bit.
Yay!
Not only is Dr. Edwards not a crank, he is a good writer who does the difficult: tells a story about politico-economics in a fascinating style. If you have any interest at all in the Great Depression, particularly the efforts by FDR to get the economy going by any means possible, one of which was by revaluing (devaluing) the US Dollar, you'll want to read this book. Edwards brings to life FDR and his interactions with his advisors, including the so-called "Brain Trust," as they tried first one thing, then another. My personal visualization (definitely not suggested by Dr. Edwards) is that of a mouse in a maze or, if you prefer, PacMan in his electronic maze of a few decades back.
In any event the reader also meets the then extant US Supreme Court along with a few Senators and Congress-critters. Edwards eventually lets you know what he thinks of some very limited aspects of the actions and inactions of our government, but first he presents some of the thoughts of other notables in the field. The two that I have read are J.M. Keynes and Ben Bernanke. By the way, unless you are a professional economist, don't select Dr. Bernanke's book. It is written for academicians and is quite at the other end of the enjoyable-to-read spectrum from Dr. Edwards' book (doubtless because Bernanke was writing some nine academic papers that were later glued together into a "book").
Dr. Edwards offer opinions on but two things; neither opinion is at all "crank-ish". Rather, both are well reasoned and supported by data, such data as exist. All in all, a short (200 pages) book that is an enjoyable read.
Yay!
Not only is Dr. Edwards not a crank, he is a good writer who does the difficult: tells a story about politico-economics in a fascinating style. If you have any interest at all in the Great Depression, particularly the efforts by FDR to get the economy going by any means possible, one of which was by revaluing (devaluing) the US Dollar, you'll want to read this book. Edwards brings to life FDR and his interactions with his advisors, including the so-called "Brain Trust," as they tried first one thing, then another. My personal visualization (definitely not suggested by Dr. Edwards) is that of a mouse in a maze or, if you prefer, PacMan in his electronic maze of a few decades back.
In any event the reader also meets the then extant US Supreme Court along with a few Senators and Congress-critters. Edwards eventually lets you know what he thinks of some very limited aspects of the actions and inactions of our government, but first he presents some of the thoughts of other notables in the field. The two that I have read are J.M. Keynes and Ben Bernanke. By the way, unless you are a professional economist, don't select Dr. Bernanke's book. It is written for academicians and is quite at the other end of the enjoyable-to-read spectrum from Dr. Edwards' book (doubtless because Bernanke was writing some nine academic papers that were later glued together into a "book").
Dr. Edwards offer opinions on but two things; neither opinion is at all "crank-ish". Rather, both are well reasoned and supported by data, such data as exist. All in all, a short (200 pages) book that is an enjoyable read.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
April 3, 2019
– Shelved
