America's Search for Economic Stability: Monetary and Fiscal Policy Since 1913

The United States's search for economic stability through the twentieth century is a fascinating saga of triumphs and catastrophes, of theorists and policy-makers, of world and domestic events, and of politics and politicians. In this new book by the respected teacher and scholar Kenneth Weiher, readers are given a clear and concise tool for understanding the history of government stabilization policy and therefore contemporary economic conditions and policy changes. America's Search for Economic Stability is the product of synthesizing hundreds of sources in order to present a solid descriptive history of the evolution of government stabilization policy. Readers are guided through eight decades of analysis: from before the creation of the Federal Reserve, when virtually no policy existed; through the 1910s and 1920s, when monetary policy was in its early stages of development; through the 1930s, with their cataclysmic policy errors; through the 1940s to early 1960s, when Keynesian fiscal policy was ascendant; through the late 1960s and 1970s, when instability progressively worsened and monetarism was reborn; and finally to the 1980s, when stability was painfully but successfully reestablished. Highlighting these analyses are discussions of the development of new ideas, the application of theories in policy actions, and the people who devised the theories and implemented the policies. Throughout the presentation, readers come to understand that policymakers, in the process of seeking a formula for stabilization policy, have created far more instability than they have averted. As Weiher ably demonstrates, the government--through its incorrect interpretations of economic indicators andthrough the politicization of economic policy--has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of economic contractions and episodes of inflation occurring over the decades. Certain to spark the interest of students and teachers of history, economic history, and economics, America's Search for Economic Stability will appeal to a broad audience, for it is a guide not just to the past but to the present and future as well. Included are a preface, bibliographic essay, selected bibliography, and index.