American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold
(Paperback)
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Publishing Details
American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold
By (Author) Sebastian Edwards
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press
18th November 2019
United States
Classifications
Tertiary Education
Non Fiction
Economic and financial crises and disasters
Economic history
Central / national / federal government policies
973.917
Physical Properties
Paperback
288
Width 156mm, Height 235mm
Description
The untold story of how FDR did the unthinkable to save the American economy The American economy is strong in large part because nobody believes that America would ever default on its debt. Yet in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt did just that, when in a bid to pull the country out of depression, he depreciated the US dollar in relation to gold, effectively annulling all debt contracts. From FDR's order for Americans to sell the government all their gold holdings to the Supreme Court confrontation that threatened to finish the New Deal, American Default provides a compelling account of an economic and legal drama that embroiled a nation.
Reviews
"Brilliantly told."Steve Hanke, Forbes
A superb history.David Frum
The story is fascinating and the lessons eternal.Martin Wolf, Financial Times
American Default is the history of that mighty legal, moral, political and monetary controversy, the effects of which are with us still.James Grant, Wall Street Journal
A magnificent piece of scholarship . . . [that] illustrates the benefits of historical distance in evaluating major events.Kenneth Rogoff, Project Syndicate
Admirably accessible and illuminating.Benn Steil, Financial World
Author Bio
Sebastian Edwards is the Henry Ford II Professor of International Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. His books include Toxic Aid and Left Behind.
