Lessons of the Great Depression
Last updated: March 12, 2025
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Great Depression was much in the headlines. Most memorable, perhaps, was the Time magazine cover of Barack Obama dressed up as FDR, headlined: "The New New Deal: What Barack Obama can Learn from FDR." Several right-of-centre economists, most notably Robert Barro of Harvard, responded with opinion pieces in newspapers suggesting there was very little evidence that FDR's economic policies had actually worked or could work again.
Below you'll find two perspectives on the economic lessons of the Great Depression: one from Christina Romer, the Berkeley economics professor who advised the Obama administration—as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers—after the crisis of 2008. We also have an interview with Robert Barro on an alternative view. The good news is that there is considerable overlap in the books they chose.
If you're looking for fiction on the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath has been frequently recommended on Five Books, by former secretary of state John Kerry, amongst others.
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1
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960
by Anna Schwartz & Milton Friedman -
2
Macroeconomic Effects from Government Purchases and Taxes
by Robert Barro -
3
Identifying Government Spending Shocks
by Valerie Ramey -
4
Essays on the Great Depression
by Ben Bernanke -
5
The Great Depression in the United States from a Neoclassical Perspective
by Harold Cole and Lee Ohanian
The Lessons of the Great Depression, recommended by Robert Barro
The Lessons of the Great Depression, recommended by Robert Barro
Harvard macroeconomist Robert Barro takes issue with some common assumptions about the Great Depression, and how America got out of it.
The best books on Learning from the Great Depression, recommended by Christina Romer
Economist Christina Romer, former chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, says we’ve learned that terrible downturns can still occur, but also that the right policy response can make a huge difference to the outcome. She talks us through books and articles that help us better understand how to get out of an economic crisis.
