In "The Forgotten Man," Amity Shlaes, one of the nation's most-respected economic commentators, offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great... read full description
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Feb 20, 2008
Camille
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This was a wonderful history of the Great Depression from a policy-making/political standpoint. It really illustrates that if the politicians would have stuck to free market principles the Great Depression would not have been so great. But instead, they jumped on the Soviet bandwagon and tried to implement Socialist programs. FDR relied on advisors that visited the USSR and saw the sanitized version of Communism that Stalin wanted them to see they even visited with Stalin!
It destroy More...
It destroy More...
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(12 people liked it)
Jan 11, 2009
Brian
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This was a tremendously informative book about the Great Depression. For me, at least, it debunked a lot of the myths about the New Deal and Roosevelt's first one hundred days in office. I felt Amity Shlaes did a monumental and extremely thorough job of researching the economic history of this era.
Having recently read up to 1940 in David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear," I had begun to understand why the business community greatly disliked the Roosevelt Administration. I More...
Having recently read up to 1940 in David Kennedy's "Freedom from Fear," I had begun to understand why the business community greatly disliked the Roosevelt Administration. I More...
Mar 25, 2008
Doran
rated it: 
Alright, I promised before I would deliver a review of the book, The Forgotten Man by Amity Schlaes. You can get this book from Amazon.com.
The Forgotten Man is a look at the events of the Great Depression in the United States during the 1930s from the perspective of policy. I found it to be a fascinating look into the lives and viewpoints of people who were involved in the landmark political events during this decade.
The book begins in 1927. Floods in the midwest caused wides More...
The Forgotten Man is a look at the events of the Great Depression in the United States during the 1930s from the perspective of policy. I found it to be a fascinating look into the lives and viewpoints of people who were involved in the landmark political events during this decade.
The book begins in 1927. Floods in the midwest caused wides More...
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(4 people liked it)
Oct 01, 2011
Rebecca
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Readable but a little dense--it's never taken me 3 weeks to read 400 pages before. This sounds like the kind of book that would only be of interest to a history nerd, but with the current situation it's an absolutely imperative read for all voters. We're all fed one version of the Depression and the New Deal as inevitable and necessary, respectively, and that war was the only thing that shocked us out of it. Reading this book forces you to realize that the Depression didn't have to be either Gre
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(3 people liked it)
Dec 14, 2011
Jim
rated it: 
An examination of the Great Depression by a fiscal conservative. This book has been avidly read within Republican circles, and ideas from the book are lacing GOP rhetoric on the faltering economy. That's a shame, as the book is an example of very sloppy scholarship.
Shlaes's main thrust is that Franklin Roosevelt's policies served to worsen the Depression. She explains that the flurry of New Deal policies, fired by FDR's hostility to business, created a chaotic environment in which b More...
Shlaes's main thrust is that Franklin Roosevelt's policies served to worsen the Depression. She explains that the flurry of New Deal policies, fired by FDR's hostility to business, created a chaotic environment in which b More...
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Aug 22, 2007
ck40579
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“[W]hen wages moved ahead, profits narrowed and shareholders lost.” (Shlaes 337) Essentially if capitalism is to fulfill itself, and ‘succeed’, wages must be suppressed. Amazing what you can learn from a conservative screed that simplifies the Depression into Hoover did too little and Roosevelt went over the top. The Forgotten Man also completely forgets to talk about the forgotten man. If you want to read a ton about the minutia of who was involved with a cornucopia of public and fiscal pol
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(4 people liked it)
Aug 09, 2011
This book provides a fresh, new look at the events leading up to the Great Depression and the government’s attempts to bring the country back from disaster. The author not only reviews the events, but also the players, on both the government and private sector sides of the story.
Like a lot of issues, the Great Depression was a lot more complex than we are led to believe. And the recovery, too, was a slow and painstaking process, and was not just a matter of “spending our way back to prosperity.” More...
Like a lot of issues, the Great Depression was a lot more complex than we are led to believe. And the recovery, too, was a slow and painstaking process, and was not just a matter of “spending our way back to prosperity.” More...
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 18, 2009
Kimberly
rated it:
Excellent book. This is not a quick read but it is excellent. Amity Shlaes wrote this prescient book in 2006. It is eery to read about depressed home values, anti-Wall Street sentiment, tax increases, increased government, job loss, and it all takes place in the 1930's.
Shlaes gives interesting details about the personalities of the men and women who influenced FDR. She describes the policies put in place that expanded government and alienated business covering 1927 through 1940 More...
Shlaes gives interesting details about the personalities of the men and women who influenced FDR. She describes the policies put in place that expanded government and alienated business covering 1927 through 1940 More...
Feb 08, 2009
Billy
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This 2007 history, written by a nut-job libertarian, tells the story of the “forgotten man,” the businessman and workers who were “trying to get along without public relief and has been attempting the same thing since the depression that cracked down on him.” (13) These forgotten men funded government programs through sales and property taxes but struggled as their tax dollars helped to expand the government’s size and influence in the marketplace. Shlaes’ account is informed by libertarian be
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 25, 2009
Jim
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a miserable little book. from its subtitle, you might imagine it has something to do with the great depression. its not actually a history of the depression at all. instead, its an intertwined biography of a set of variably prominent public features from the 1930's. rather than reading about the lives of the millions of jobless, homeless and dispossessed you'll be treated to paeans to the unjust suffering of andrew mellon at the hands of heartless new dealers. rather than learning how new deal e
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2008
Drake
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History is not static. Well, the events have happened and that can't change but what we can or have learned from it are as fluid as anyone can relate to them. Viet Nam was a failure, or Viet Nam was a necessary war, I've heard both analysis defended equally strongly. That is just an easy one to use, imagine something as loaded with events as the 20's and 30's. When I was a child the party line was that the depression was caused by the bad 20's and we were merely paying the price from our bad (my
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Mar 25, 2011
Matt
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Shlaes uses William Graham Sumner's "forgotten man" to expose the problems with FDR's New Deal. To paraphrase Sumner, A sees the plight of X and says to B, "Let's pass some legislation to help X," and C gets the bill. Sumner wrote about C: "He works, he votes, generally he prays - but he always pays - yes, above all, he pays." The identity of A is the progressives and B is Congress. It is laudable that A wants to help X but tinkering with the economy at the expense
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Dec 12, 2010
Scott
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A good and objective overview of the times of the Great Depression and the impact of the New Deal. While the New Deal had things that did work, it was not quite the cure all that history can sometimes make it seem. There was a great deal of politics behind it, and it is interesting to get the perspectives on Hoover and Roosevelt. What is interesting about Hoover is that when he was elected, if a Depression was to happen, you would have figured him as a top draft pick to fix that problem. However
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 07, 2010
James
rated it:
Somewhat of a disappointment,
the book is mostly about the political infighting that occurred in Washington DC.
A thousand names of long forgotten bureaucrats.
The title refers to the American people,
but ironically the book is about the "forgotten" bureaucrats.
I did learn that in 1923 the supreme court ruled that minimum wage laws were unconstitutional.
They interfered with the relationship of a worker and his employer.
A latter group More...
the book is mostly about the political infighting that occurred in Washington DC.
A thousand names of long forgotten bureaucrats.
The title refers to the American people,
but ironically the book is about the "forgotten" bureaucrats.
I did learn that in 1923 the supreme court ruled that minimum wage laws were unconstitutional.
They interfered with the relationship of a worker and his employer.
A latter group More...
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(1 person liked it)
Sep 05, 2010
David
rated it: 
This was an interesting if a little unfocused book. Generally it was critical of FDR's erratic attacks on business and his tendency to jump from issue to issue with no clear agenda. The book also attacks the 'Brain Trust' and other intellectuals that were so prevalent in FDR's first term.
The final, vague, conclusion is that academics, anti-business interests (left leaning liberals), and an unfocused administration deepened and lengthened the depression.
Shlaes also acknowledge More...
The final, vague, conclusion is that academics, anti-business interests (left leaning liberals), and an unfocused administration deepened and lengthened the depression.
Shlaes also acknowledge More...
Jul 21, 2010
Clif
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I've decided 3 stars for me will mean a book that I enjoy but that I wouldn't pester others to read.
The Forgotten Man is about the Great Depression but not from the standpoint of the average Joe. For that story, see my review of The Worst Hard Times. This is a story of those at the top who either made the decisions on how to handle the Depression through policy or opposed them. The man that the title refers to is the one who is eager to take a risk in order to get a reward, the " More...
The Forgotten Man is about the Great Depression but not from the standpoint of the average Joe. For that story, see my review of The Worst Hard Times. This is a story of those at the top who either made the decisions on how to handle the Depression through policy or opposed them. The man that the title refers to is the one who is eager to take a risk in order to get a reward, the " More...
Jul 17, 2010
Deedee
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This book is marketed as "A History", when in fact, it is a pro-right-wing set of talking points. The right/conservative wing in American politics has never liked FDR or his policies. They didn't like FDR in 1932 or 1940 or 1950 or 1960 or any day of any year since the day FDR got the Democratic nomination for the presidency. The author, Amity Shales, trained as a journalist. Her job before writing this book was as a Wall Street Journal editorial writer. The book she has written i
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Mar 21, 2010
John
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This is a somewhat polarizing book, being a more conservative look at the 1930s that does not provide the usual enthusiastic view of FDR and the New Deal that one gets in school and mainstream media. And unlike the rash of "people's histories" that are so prevalent now, it doesn't focus on the "common man" during the depression.
Shlaes looks at the backgrounds and policies of Roosevelt, Hoover, Willkie, and many of the members of Roosevelt's brain trust. I enjoyed More...
Shlaes looks at the backgrounds and policies of Roosevelt, Hoover, Willkie, and many of the members of Roosevelt's brain trust. I enjoyed More...
Dec 20, 2009
Andrew
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The book/audiobook opens with a vibrant vignette from first-person accounts, told from the perspective of the folks living through the events. This very much excited me for the rest of the book, leading me to expect the same, novel first-person perspective throughout. Oh how let down I was when I realized that the book's opening vignette would be the ONLY time such a visceral perspective would be used.
Shlaes proceeds to tell a rather rather tedious tale of the events of the depression from More...
Shlaes proceeds to tell a rather rather tedious tale of the events of the depression from More...
Oct 23, 2009
Jason
rated it:
Revisionist history at its best
This is the story of a power struggle, not between good and evil, but between two parts of the United State economy, with a mix of good and evil that affected results and motivation. The struggle was between the public and private sector for an 11 year period between 1929 and 40. By the end, the dominance of the public sector was assured. The Forgotten Man is an new attempt to understand why the 1930’s were an economic disaster for the United States, why the More...
This is the story of a power struggle, not between good and evil, but between two parts of the United State economy, with a mix of good and evil that affected results and motivation. The struggle was between the public and private sector for an 11 year period between 1929 and 40. By the end, the dominance of the public sector was assured. The Forgotten Man is an new attempt to understand why the 1930’s were an economic disaster for the United States, why the More...
Aug 01, 2011
Great new look at the Depression. She sees FDR as power hungary and willing to use all avenues of the federal government to expand the reach of government. The book came out before the recession but the story is familiar- Hoover initiated a series of state interventions that made matters worse and presented FDR- and an associated group of academic planners- the chance to put forward new intervention and government taker-overs. The result was the creation of a new political alliance that kept
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Aug 01, 2011
Dan
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What I learned from this book was how FDR's "braintrust" was primarily made up of "fellow travelers" - people who were sympathetic to Communism and admired Stalin. These people were the source of so much of the "New Deal." Ideas such as shareholder value were ephemeral to them - they destroyed an estimated $500M by expanding the TVA and stealing market share from the shareholder-owned utilities. Fortunately the Supreme Court invalidated much of what was done and
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Jun 12, 2010
Steve
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A look at the 1920s and 1930s told through the interwoven stories of various key individuals. Its critical of the New Deal, but not a polemic against it. Instead, it seems to be a gentle nudge in the direction of reevaluating the New Deal as a political and propaganda triumph but an economic misfortune.
Shlaes makes clear that prosperity was never even close to returning while the New Deal was in full frantic fury. The economy fluctuated between simple misery and suicidal despair duri More...
Shlaes makes clear that prosperity was never even close to returning while the New Deal was in full frantic fury. The economy fluctuated between simple misery and suicidal despair duri More...
Dec 07, 2009
Paul
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This is a timely book to read. The author takes us by the hand through the late 20's, the 30's and spills into the 40's. Each chapter starts out with the date, the unemployment rate, and the Dow Jones average. Laced into these chapters in a facinating story of the actions and thoughts of the policy makers, advisors, and the presidents (Hoover and Roosevelt) during this awful time. One learns that cynisism was not invented in the 60's. If one is interested in macro economics, policy tools, p
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Sep 30, 2009
Peter
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I begin with clues about the title.
Seven months before the presidential election of 1932, the man who would turn out to be the winner spoke these words:
These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power, for plans like those of 1917 that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
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Seven months before the presidential election of 1932, the man who would turn out to be the winner spoke these words:
These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power, for plans like those of 1917 that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
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Jan 03, 2009
Brendan
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This book had the potential to be great, given the subject matter and the timeliness. The thesis is that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the New Deal did not end the Great Depression and in fact did much to exacerbate it. The first part is uncontroversial. I think everyone agrees that WWII, not the New Deal, ended the Depression. the second part is interesting: Shlaes does show how some programs were harmful and ideologically driven, and probably did more harm than good in terms of end
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Apr 10, 2011
Marks54
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I was very disappointed by the book, but is based on a play on words between a reference to the poor or the middle class in the name "forgotten man". There are, of course, bases for both references. The point here is to argue that the policies of the New Deal made what would have been a typical recession much worse and turned it into a depression. A highlight is that retrenchment and budget balancing of 1937, which appeared to lead to a double dip depression that was not relieved un
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Oct 10, 2009
Kenny
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It's amazing the lies we're told in the name of education. Like the myth of JFK, I was fed a fairytale about the Great Depression, FDR, and the nobility of collective action.
All these were lies. America is based upon individual, not collective, rights. In fact, the Bill of Rights are individual, not collective, rights, and the concomitant obligations are also individual. When the collectivists -- statists, in Mark Levin's words -- get their way, economies stagnate, employment shrink More...
All these were lies. America is based upon individual, not collective, rights. In fact, the Bill of Rights are individual, not collective, rights, and the concomitant obligations are also individual. When the collectivists -- statists, in Mark Levin's words -- get their way, economies stagnate, employment shrink More...
Apr 23, 2009
Davidmcdonnell
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Thorough history of the people and events leading up to and throughout the Great Depression. Author argues for free markets throughout book, taking issue with both Republican and Democrat policies that obstructed free trade. These included protectionist tariffs, public utilities where government subsidizes made a public-private cost comparison difficult, and programs involving collectivization. FDR is portrayed as a president with a strong grasp of creating dependent constituencies (farmers,
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Apr 07, 2009
Susan
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I like the book because it taught me more about people who are policymakers who wanted to fight for a aquedate economy. In this story, the plot takes place during the 1930s around the time of the Great Depression. At the time, many people suffered from poverty and hunger. The narrative of the story talked about how women and men were struggling with maintaining a stability economy in America. Also, in the book, it talked about the situation at the time of the The Great Depression. Many people ei
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