Anderson, Benjamin, Economics and the Public Welfare. Anderson, the head economist of the Chase National Bank during the 1930s, gives a detailed contemporary account of the New Deal, as part of a history of American finance. He stresses the disastrous effects of Roosevelt's policies on business confidence. Excellent treatment of FDR's torpedoing of the World Economic Conference in 1933.

Flynn, John T. Forgotten Lessons: Selected Essays of John T. Flynn. Edited by Gregory Pavlik. Very good criticism of fractional-reserve banking, showing how this led to financial instability that resulted in economic collapse. Shows the business interests behind the NRA.

Flynn's The Road Ahead depicts the p...

Anderson, Benjamin, Economics and the Public Welfare. Anderson, the head economist of the Chase National Bank during the 1930s, gives a detailed contemporary account of the New Deal, as part of a history of American finance. He stresses the disastrous effects of Roosevelt's policies on business confidence. Excellent treatment of FDR's torpedoing of the World Economic Conference in 1933.

Flynn, John T. Forgotten Lessons: Selected Essays of John T. Flynn. Edited by Gregory Pavlik. Very good criticism of fractional-reserve banking, showing how this led to financial instability that resulted in economic collapse. Shows the business interests behind the NRA.

Flynn's The Road Ahead depicts the parallels between the New Deal and fascism; Flynn shows wide knowledge of both American and European conditions.

The Roosevelt Myth is a devastating portrayal of FDR. Flynn shows how the need to find outlets for government spending led to militarism and war.

Folsom, Burton, New Deal or Raw Deal. Shows that New Deal programs, far from helping the poor, actually burdened them through excise taxes on essential items. Also excellent on use of welfare payments and government jobs to secure votes for Roosevelt.

Hayek, Friedrich von, Prices and Production and Other Works. Edited by Joseph T. Salerno. The most elaborate statement of the Austrian theory of the business cycle. Particularly important for our purposes is the essay "The 'Paradox' of Saving," showing that a fall in consumers' spending need not lead to depression.

Mises, Ludwig von, The Causes of the Economic Crisis. Includes a classic essay, written in 1928, that discusses the role of bank-credit expansion in causing the business cycle, as well as "The Causes of the Economic Crisis" (1931), showing that inflation during a depression will not succeed in ending unemployment. Only wage reductions in industries with an oversupply of labor can achieve this goal.