Incorrect, Indeed
I was over at Human Events (I know. I'm a glutton for punishment) reading a review of a new book cleverly titled, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal, by one Robert P. Murphy.
This book, apparently asks the vital question:
“How in the world did historians manage to teach generations of children that the New Deal ended the Depression?”
This question certainly deserves an answer. Perhaps, it was by showing them t
he following chart:
I want to note that Mr. Murphy apparently ridicules the comments of one Paul Krugman, newspaper commenter. Now, of course, there is no reason to suspect that this Paul Krugman has any knowledge of the subject of economics, so I guess this is fair criticism.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I got the little chart shown here from an article by the same Paul Krugman.
You know, I have a suggestion. Mr. Murphy, in all fairness, I think you should consider a slight change in the title of your book. I'd call it The Factually Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal.
After all, for your intended audience, "factually incorrect" is a feature, not a bug.
This book, apparently asks the vital question:
“How in the world did historians manage to teach generations of children that the New Deal ended the Depression?”
This question certainly deserves an answer. Perhaps, it was by showing them t
he following chart:I want to note that Mr. Murphy apparently ridicules the comments of one Paul Krugman, newspaper commenter. Now, of course, there is no reason to suspect that this Paul Krugman has any knowledge of the subject of economics, so I guess this is fair criticism.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I got the little chart shown here from an article by the same Paul Krugman.
You know, I have a suggestion. Mr. Murphy, in all fairness, I think you should consider a slight change in the title of your book. I'd call it The Factually Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal.
After all, for your intended audience, "factually incorrect" is a feature, not a bug.
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