The great depression, for one thing, lasted for 12 years, and it came from human problems. Not only did the depression give birth to macroeconomics as a distinct field of study. The gold standard, deflation, and financial crisis in the great depression. Before bernanke s work, the dominant monetarist theory of the great depression was milton friedmans view that it had been largely caused by the federal reserves having reduced the money supply and has on several occasions argued that one of the biggest mistakes made during the period was to raise interest rates too early. Exfed chairman ben bernanke said the coronavirus economic halt is more like a natural disaster than an economic depression. In his new book, temin 1989 argues that structural flaws of the interwar gold standard. Bernanke rejects great depression comparisons as he says.
This broad view shows us that while the great depression was an unparalleled disaster, some economies pulled up faster than others, and some made an opportunity out of it. Ben bernanke, the former chairman of the federal reserve, is a scholar of the great depression, a background he put to use during the global financial crisis. Ben bernankes essays on the great depression is a collection of 9 essays written in the 80s and 90s about the financial and labor markets during the 1930s. He was named time magazines person of the year in 2009. An international comparison ben bernanke and harold james 2. Missed by what friedman allegedly proved, what bernanke. Ben bernankes the courage to act the new york times.
He is practicing today what he preached in his book. Frb speech, bernanke on milton friedmans ninetieth. For anyone wanting to know what caused the great depression, without reading an entire book, please. While i have not read any of bernanke s writings on the depression, the wsj article quotes bernanke as saying of friedmans 1963 book. Chairman bernanke has written a number of important papers about the great depression. Not only did the depression give birth to macroeconomics as a distinct field of study, but alsoto an extent that is not always fully appreciated. Stock market crashes, bread lines, bank runs, and wild currency speculation were worldwide phenomenaall occurring with. Essays on the great depression princeton university press. Stock market crashes, bread lines, bank runs, ad wild currency speculation were worldwide phenomenaall with the storm clouds of war gathering ominously in the background. The first paragraph in the preface to bernanke s 2004 book, essays on the great depression, reads as follows. Prior to his career in public service, he was a professor of economics at princeton university. Few periods in history compare to the great depressio. It really depends on you, but i will give several books and suggest which to read depending on your personal preferences. The essays are essentially a synthesis of prior work with greater mathematical rigor.
The great depression brought about fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Bernanke ben bernankes essays on the great depression is a collection of 9 essays written in the 80s and 90s about the financial and labor markets during the 1930s. The gold standardbased explanation of the depression which we will. Friedman and schwartz showed that banking panics caused a decline in the money supply, which likely depressed output by raising real interest rates. That year saw the publication of their nowclassic book, a monetary history of the united states, 18671960. The one that really stands out is the paper you mentioned. This pdf is a selection from an outofprint volume from. This is a very different animal than the great depression, bernanke said, over the phone, to becky quick, who was reporting live from what looked like a home study. The macroeconomics of the great depression fraser st.
Economic fluctuations and growth, monetary economics recently, research on the causes of the great depression has shifted from a heavy emphasis on events in the united states to a broader, more comparative approach that examines the interwar. Bernanke 1995 showed that not only did adherence to the gold standard predict deeper and more extended depression, as had been noted by earlier authors, but also that the behavior of various key macro variables, such as real wages and real interest rates, differed across goldstandard and nongoldstandard countries in just the way one would expect if the driving shocks were monetary in nature. The financial crisis has made federal reserve chairman ben bernanke s book essays on the great depression a hot seller. The depression lasted a decade, beginning in 1929 and ending during world war ii. The great depression, for one thing, lasted for 12 years, and it. Bernanke an expert on the great depression steve keen. The gold standard, deflation, and financial crisis in the great nber. Essays on the great depression 0691118205 by bernanke. Stock market crashes, bread lines, bank runs, and wild currency speculation were worldwide. The recovery from the great depression was spurred largely by the abandonment of the gold standard and the ensuing monetary expansion. He also said that he thinks the current members of the central bank acted with appropriate force. To the contrary, in this book i maintain that the great depression was not some act of god or the result of some deeprootedcontradictions of capitalism but the direct result of a series of.
He was named time magazines person of the year in 2009 and was a professor of economics at princeton university prior to his career in public service. The grapes of wrath is a masterpiece of american literature and portrays the hopelessness of the great depression. Ben bernanke is an expert on the great depression and his work verifies what friedman found. This broad view shows us that while the great depression was an unparalleled disaster, some. In his new book, temin 1989 argues that structural flaws of the interwar gold. The great depression, for one thing, lasted for 12 years, and it came. My particular research specialty is macroeconomics, not economic history. Ben bernanke says hitler was the guy who got economics. Schwartz transformed the debate about the great depression. A bernanke fed might interpret this to mean that the cpi of the future will be depressed, and perhaps the deflation monster may threaten to reemerge. Ben bernanke s essays on the great depression is a collection of 9 essays written in the 80s and 90s about the financial and labor markets during the 1930s. My conversation with ben bernanke the daily reckoning.
I had a copy of bernanke s book, essays on the great depression 2000, which contains much of the research on which he built his academic reputation. Few periods in history compare to the great depression. Essays on the great depression ebook written by ben s. Bernanke, like other economic historians, characterized the great depression as a disaster because of its length, depth, and consequences. Ben bernanke, the former head of the federal reserve, said the 2008 financial crisis was the worst in global history, surpassing even the great depression. Essays on the great depression by ben s bernanke alibris. Ben bernanke and the great depression new world economics. Here bernanke has gathered together his essays on why the great depression was so devastating and lasted so long. As a fed governor, bernanke has already played out this scenario to some degree, following the techstock collapse. What is the best book to read up on the 1929 great depression. Bernanke, a former princeton university economist, is considered the preeminent living scholar of the great depression.
The term the great depression is most frequently attributed to british economist lionel robbins, whose 1934 book the great depression is credited with formalizing the phrase, though hoover is widely credited with popularizing the term, informally referring to the downturn as a depression, with such uses as economic depression cannot be cured. Bernanke served as chairman of the federal reserve from 2006 to 2014. The best books on learning from the great depression a. But bernanke is persuasive in arguing that a it was pretty damned great i. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read essays on the great depression. But this is a very different animal than the great depression, bernanke stressed. In 2002 ben bernanke then a federal reserve governor, today the chairman of the board of governors made this startling admission in a speech given in honor of friedmans 90th birthday. Economic fluctuations and growth, monetary economics recently, research on the causes of the great depression has shifted from a heavy emphasis on events in the united states to a broader, more comparative approach that examines the interwar experiences. Great depression university of california, berkeley. Here, ben bernanke has gathered together his essays on why the great depression was so devastating. My professional articles on the depression are collected in bernanke 2000.
Bernanke to understand the great depression is the holy grail of macroeconomics. Ben bernanke, the former chairman of the federal reserve, is a scholar of the great depression, a background he put to use during the global financial crisis when he invented many of the emergency. Timing and severity in the united states, the great depression began in the summer of 1929. The monetary history, the name by which the book is instantly. I have drawn heavily on eichengreens book and his earlier work. Money, gold and the great depression remarks by mr ben s bernanke, member of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, at the h parker willis lecture in economic policy, washington and lee university, lexington, virginia, 2 march 2004.
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