Opinion
By John Stossel
We’re told FDR and his New Deal saved America from the Great Depression. Economist Donald J. Boudreaux, author of “The Triumph of Economic Freedom,” says that’s a myth: “He created government programs all right, but they did not pull us out of the Depression.” When farmers complained about low prices, government paid farmers to destroy their crops. “People can’t eat prices. They have to eat food!” says Boudreaux. 70 years later, during the Great Recession, politicians again blamed free markets and pushed more government “solutions.” Boudreaux says that’s why both downturns lasted so long.