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George Selgin

@georgeselgin.bsky.social
185 followers 80 following 32 posts

Follow me if you like having your deep-seated beliefs about monetary and banking history and policy challenged. And help me by challenging mine in turn!

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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
The 1st draft of FDR’s famous chat was penned by Hoover Treasury team member Arthur Ballantine, who with other Hoover men also came up with the actual plan for first closing and then gradually opening US banks. FDR’s own Treasury men were woefully unprepared to deal with the banking crisis.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
And now he’s blocked me, presumably so as to continue misrepresenting my work without fear of having his tactics exposed. Way to go, Eric!
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Another thing Eric does—in his review, not here—is to accuse me of “ignoring” the New Deal’s achievements apart from its contribution to recovery. He does so even after recognizing my _stated_ aim of only assessing the later contribution. It’s as if he wants to rule-out any such assessment!
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
File under: dishonest paraphrase. _False Dawn_ isn’t about “business” recovery: its about general recovery from the Great Depression and policies that did and didn’t promote it. Of course such recovery was a Democratic objective, making it legitimate to assess New Dealer’s success at achieving it.
paraphrase.book
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Reposted by George Selgin
Marginal Revolution @marginalrev.blogsky.venki.dev · 17/10/2025
My excellent Conversation with George Selgin - Marginal REVOLUTION
marginalrevolution.com
My excellent Conversation with George Selgin - Marginal REVOLUTION
Here is the audio, video, and transcript.  Here is part of the episode summary: Tyler and George discuss the surprising lack of fiscal and monetary stimulus in the New Deal, whether revaluing gold was really the best path to economic reflation, how much Glass-Steagall and other individual parts of the New Deal mattered, Keynes’ “very […]
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
My conversation with Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen on the New Deal, the Great Depression, donkeys, and much more: m.youtube.com/watch?v=IDXN... Pass it on!
m.youtube.com
George Selgin on the New Deal and What Ended the Great Depression (live at @catoinstitutevideo)
YouTube video by Conversations with Tyler
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
“Had FDR done all of the things Keynes said he should do, and none of the things Keynes said he shouldn’t do, there would have been—I have no doubt—a much more rapid recovery, a recovery that would have been complete sometime in the last half of the 1930s.” 1/2
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Reposted by George Selgin
Chad Zimmerman @chadzimmerman.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
George Will devoted a whole column to @georgeselgin.bsky.social, FALSE DAWN, and our bipartisan dreams about the New Deal: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | Kindred spirits on the left and right believe in a New Deal fable
Donald Trump is leading the most economically interventionist U.S. administration since FDR’s.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
What, you missed my “Conversation with Tyler” yesterday about _False Dawn_, my book on New Deal and the Great Depression? No worries: you can now watch it on YouTube: m.youtube.com/watch?v=01YC...
m.youtube.com
False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947
YouTube video by The Cato Institute
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Washingtonians! There are still a few seats available for my Conversation with Tyler about _False Dawn_, this Friday at the Cato Institute. Join us if you can. www.cato.org/events/false...
cato.org
False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947
In this groundbreaking history, Selgin examines the United States’ long and difficult road to recovery from the Great Depression—and the real legacy of the New Deal.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
If you’ll be in the London area at the start of October, consider coming to the IEA to hear me talk about _False Dawn_. iea.org.uk/in-conversat...
iea.org.uk
In Conversation with George Selgin
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Criticize my views all you like—but please (1) don’t misrepresent them, and (2) spare me the ad hominem stuff! If my arguments are wrong, there are better ways to show it than by pointing out where I (used to) work, or what political ideals I (supposedly) hold.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Eccles was a keen proponent of fiscal stimulus. Alas, he was just a keen an opponent of monetary stimulus. And since he was Fed chair, in practice his influence was mainly on the anti-stimulus side.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A kind review of _False Dawn_ for the WSJ by Judge Glock. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
‘False Dawn’ Review: The Mirage of Recovery
America’s leaders in the 1930s subjected the country to a series of bizarre economic experiments. Most of them backfired.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Administration officials are comparing the tariff-induced downturn to “detox” therapy. A more precise analogy would be to leeching.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Yours truly on the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Boondoggle: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/18/o...
bostonglobe.com
Trump’s ‘Strategic Bitcoin Reserve’ makes no sense - The Boston Globe
The list of justifications for a government bitcoin stockpile is long, not because there are many good ones, but because there are none, so the schemes’ apologists must keep trying.
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Wow: a very detailed and thoughtful—and kind!—review of _False Dawn_ by Scott @MoneyIllusion Sumner. Thanks, Scott! scottsumner.substack.com/p/false-dawn?u…
scottsumner.substack.com
False Dawn
George Selgin on the New Deal
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George Selgin @georgeselgin.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
In my forthcoming book _False Dawn_, I explain how “regime uncertainty”—businessmen’s confusion about what the Roosevelt administration had in store for them—was a major reason why the Great Depression lasted as long as it did. (Not that that’s relevant today.) www.amazon.com/False-Dawn-R...
amazon.com
False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (Markets and Governments in Economic History)
False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (Markets and Governments in Economic History) [Selgin, George] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. False Dawn: The New Deal and the Promise of Recovery, 1933–1947 (Markets and Governments in Economic History)
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