New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America | 
| Author: Burton W., Jr. Folsom
Publisher: Threshold Editions
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 3285
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1416592229
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.917
EAN: 9781416592228
ASIN: 1416592229
Publication Date: November 4, 2008
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Product Description
A sharply critical new look at Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency reveals government policies that hindered economic recovery from the Great Depression -- and are still hurting America today.In this shocking and groundbreaking new book, economic historian Burton W. Folsom exposes the idyllic legend of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a myth of epic proportions. With questionable moral character and a vendetta against the business elite, Roosevelt created New Deal programs marked by inconsistent planning, wasteful spending, and opportunity for political gain -- ultimately elevating public opinion of his administration but falling flat in achieving the economic revitalization that America so desperately needed from the Great Depression. Folsom takes a critical, revisionist look at Roosevelt's presidency, his economic policies, and his personal life. Elected in 1932 on a buoyant tide of promises to balance the increasingly uncontrollable national budget and reduce the catastrophic unemployment rate, the charismatic thirty-second president not only neglected to pursue those goals, he made dramatic changes to federal programming that directly contradicted his campaign promises. Price fixing, court packing, regressive taxes, and patronism were all hidden inside the alphabet soup of his popular New Deal, putting a financial strain on the already suffering lower classes and discouraging the upper classes from taking business risks that potentially could have jostled national cash flow from dormancy. Many government programs that are widely used today have their seeds in the New Deal. Farm subsidies, minimum wage, and welfare, among others, all stifle economic growth -- encouraging decreased productivity and exacerbating unemployment. Roosevelt's imperious approach to the presidency changed American politics forever, and as he manipulated public opinion, American citizens became unwitting accomplices to the stilted economic growth of the 1930s. More than sixty years after FDR died in office, we still struggle with the damaging repercussions of his legacy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Deja Vu all over again? January 5, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As the title suggests, Prof. Fulsom of Hillsdale College, challenges the popular perception of FDR and the New Deal.
He highlights the four points of this myth and logically challenges them:
1) 1920's was an economic disaster
2) New Deal programs corrected the 1920's
3) Roosevelt and the New Deal were popular
4) Roosevelt was a good administrator and a moral leader
Prof. Folsom utilizes little over a third of the book to analyze the cost and "benefits" of the numerous alphabet organizations and other programs.
The middle third looks at the manner in which FDR and his administration distributed the monies for these programs. Often they were utilized for political patronage rather than true relief.
The final third is devoted to what should have been done and what has been the current and future implications of these costly programs.
Even though the book is an economic history, I found it an interesting read. A person could not help but see the parallels to the current financial crisis.
Folsom uses a mix of anecdotes, personal quotes and a sparing use of statistics to make his point. He backs these up with numerous footnotes at the end of the book.
This book is a great addition to "The Forgotten Man" and "FDR's Follies" in debunking of FDR's socialist agenda that still haunts us today.
The quote by Santayana would be appropriate here but the better quote is by Morgantheau, FDR's close friend, in a 1939 testimony before the Ways and Means Commitee,
"We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it has does not work....I say after eight years of this administration we have as much unemployment as when we started...and an enormous debt to boot."
Hopefully in eight years we will not be saying the same thing.
The answer is Raw Deal December 29, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
In a recent election in California, the supporters of an opponent of a popular Republican for a congressional seat stated that electing him would deprive the district of money that it deserves. In effect, the majority leadership in the House of Representatives would look more favorably on monetary requests from Democrats than Republicans.
In reading this book, we see that such scenarios date back to the founding of this republic, but that during the New Deal, such favortism was taken to new heights and today all money that flows from DC comes with many political strings attached. Mr. Folsom's book on the New Deal exposes the chicanery that helped FDR through the dark days of the Depression. Despite employment being in double digits during the entire 1930s, FDR was kept in power through bribing the voters with promises of jobs and money, some of which proved illusory. We see such actions today in a more subdued context.
The book provides an overview of the New Deal with many footnotes that lead the earnest researcher to many sources that explore the subject in depth. I commend Mr. Folsom for providing a hard-hitting expose of a program that still affects us today.
A clear expose of FDR's dishonest nature and the policies that he created that impact society today. December 27, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an amazing book. It follows FDR's early years and highlights his shallow nature and cavalier lack of accountability and personal responsibility. Provides a clear view into the psychology behind the man who produced the parasitic Welfare society we have today. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how America came to revere socialism over a free market.
Excellent book December 26, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a very well written and well researched book. A keeper.
It is not one you read cover to cover over two days. It's more a case of reading a chapter, digesting it, cross referencing it, and then moving on. The style is balanced, very fair, presenting both sides of the arguments. It avoids shrill indignation, or fatuous adulation. It is timely, with Mr Obama and co, it appears, keen to set sail with the same or very similar policies. I might send him a copy...
I have a lot of areas highlighted. Some examples for you:
"Federal Aid encourages the expectations of paternal care on the part of Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character".(p.77)
"This historic shift to using federal dollars for local relief profoundly changed the American work ethic" (p.81)
"Such a system tended to make liars out of everyone involved. Governors and mayors would shed abundant tears telling Hopkins and Roosevelt of their financial hardships; Hopkins and Roosevelt then listened and pretended to dispense FERA money solely on the basis of need, not on political considerations." (p.82)
And one I really chuckled about, given the media's adulation of Mr Obama.
"With so much help from most reporters in so many areas, Roosevelt sometimes became careless in telling the truth." (p.228)
If you are considering this book, check out the "contents" page. It is beautifully laid out, very clear, and it makes it very easy to leaf back and forwards afterward and look something up.
This is an excellent read.
 Another right-wing "historian" rewrites history December 22, 2008
5 out of 31 found this review helpful
This book and "The Forgotten Man" are frightening examples of how ideologue "historians" are trying to rewrite history to their liking. The idea that FDR's policies worsened conditions for the millions of Americans who were down on their luck is ridiculous. Neither Burton Folsom's in his "New Deal or Raw Deal" nor Amity Shlaes in her "The Forgotten Man" are interested in recounting history from an objective viewpoint. Each has their own well-known bias -- Folsom from the Free Market Institute and Shlaes a conservative who defended Senator Phil Gramm's comment that Americans were "whiners" with respect to the economy. Reliable histories are written by those who are interested in only reporting what was -- not by those who are interested in pushing a particular perspective.
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