218 Author Amity Shlaes – The Great Society, Coolidge and More

Amity Shlaes is the author of several compelling books that counter the traditional narrative handed down by historians. Her “The Forgotten Man” showed how FDR’s New Deal policies actually prolonged the Great Depression. Her book “Coolidge” gave Calvin Coolidge the status update placing him among the great American presidents. Her latest book and the primary topic of this podcast is her new book “Great Society.” 

Today the idea of social democracy is popular in our country. The term socialism has taken on a glow. In the 1960s, socialism was also popular, as was its compromise, social democracy. Social democratic principles were the basis of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. In Great Society, Amity Shlaes shows that planning policy implemented in the name of the collective hurt both the nation and the individual. The result of our collective projects was a new Silent Majority. Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan has called the book “accurate history that reads like a novel.”

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