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The prolific and always-insightful Andy Morriss — who co-blogs with me at Market Correction [2] — sent this letter several days ago to the Wall Street Journal:
Morial and Janet Murguia begin by repeating the canard that “FDR’s
New Deal helped lift the country out of the Great Depression.” (April
29). This has been debunked repeatedly, including in reviews in your own paper of
Amity Shlaes’ The Forgotten Man. Not content to rewrite history, the
two authors next assert that the stimulus bill was enacted “to boost
economic growth.” Your own paper has documented that (a) neither the vast
majority of Congress nor the Administration had any idea of what was in the
massive stimulus bill, making their intentions irrelevant and (b) it was a special
interest feeding frenzy, redistributing wealth from our children to those whose
lobbyists managed to claim them a share. When I want to read historical fiction,
I head for the library. When I want to read contemporary political fantasies,
the New York Times is readily available. I appreciate the Journal’s
commitment to a diverse set of view points, but it would be better served
by limiting contributions to those that reflect a clearer understanding of
history and politics.
Professor, Institute for Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois