In his provocative new book New Deal or Raw Deal? (Threshold),
Hillsdale College historian Burt Folsom takes aim at the iconic
legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Drawing on his
own research and that of economists such as Milton Friedman and
Robert Higgs, Folsom provides compelling evidence that FDR
prolonged the Great Depression and permanently damaged America’s
political and economic landscape. Associate Editor Damon W. Root
interviewed Folsom in February. Q: You argue that the New Deal
actually harmed the poor. A: Roosevelt secured more revenue
during the 1930s from excise taxes than from income taxes. For
example, we had a sixcent tax on cigarettes, and that hits poor
people disproportionately hard. When we look at a lot of New
Deal programs, we see direct subsidies to special interest
groups paid for heavily by excise taxes. Q: Nobel laureate
economist Paul Krugman says FDR didn’t spend enough. A: It’s a
clever argument: If you keep spending and it doesn’t work, that
means that you need to spe