Peddling Panaceas: Popular Economics in the New Deal Era [Paperback]

Gary Dean Best (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1412807247 | ISBN-13: 978-1412807241 | Publication Date: September 30, 2007

As the Great Depression dragged on without a recovery, Americans were avid for anything that would help them to understand its causes and possible solutions. During this period, orthodox economists were largely discredited, both in the White House and among the public. Three of the most popular and influential figures of the period--Edward A. Rumely, Stuart Chase, and David Cushman Coyle--were not trained in economics. In Peddling Panaceas, Gary Dean Best analyes their remedies for the Depression, their proposals for permanent economic reform, and their influence on the New Deal.

Each of these men represented one of the three principal economic factions within the New Deal. The inflationists within the New Deal found support from the Committee for the Nation, which was largely the creation of Edward Rumely, a physician-turned-educator-turned-businessman-turned newspaper publisher-turned-amateur economist. Rumely's committee was influential in the early New Deal. The planners within the New Deal were represented in popular magaines and books by Stuart Chase, who was an engineer and accountant before he began to expound on economics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Few historians know the New Deal period as well as Gary Dean Best and few have written about it so ably. This study of the work of Stuart Chase and David Cushman and of the Committee for the Nation does more than fill a gap that long needed filling. It presents indispensable data on one of the most significant periods in all American history. The style is clear, the research thorough. As such it is valuable not simply to the historian but to all with an interest in public policy. "

– Justus Doenecke, professor of history, University of South Florida

"In Peddling Panaceas, Gary Dean Best shows again why he is the best historian writing on the New Deal today. His book clearly explains the myopic government solutions peddled by Stuart Chase and David Cushman Coyle, neither of whom had economic training and both of whom influenced public policy at the highest levels. Best's book is a must read for New Deal historians."

– Burton Folsom, Jr., Charles F. Kline Chair in History and professor of history, Hillsdale College

"Peddling Panaceas offers a coherent and compelling alternative intellectual history of the New Deal and provides new detail on three important factions of New Deal policymaking."

– Ranjit S. Dighe, Department of Economics, State University of New York at Oswego

About the Author

Gary Dean Best retired after thirty years of teaching history in the University of Hawaii system. He is the author of fifteen books and numerous essays for books and scholarly journals, including Harold Laski and American Liberalism published by Transaction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 273 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (September 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412807247
• ISBN-13: 978-1412807241
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,080,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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