Burton W. Folsom, Jr. provides analysis of the role of entrepreneurs in the urban development of Pennsylvania's Lackawanna and Lehigh regions from 1800 to 1920.

Urban Capitalists: Entrepreneurs and City Growth in Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna and Lehigh Regions 1800-1920 (Studies in Industry and Society)

Business & Money

Folsom Jr., Burton W.

Economics

University of Scranton Press

In this shocking and groundbreaking new book, economic historian Burton Folsom, Jr., exposes the idyllic legend of Franklin D. Roosevelt as a myth of epic proportions. With questionable moral character and a vendetta against the business elite, Roosevelt created New Deal programs marked by inconsistent planning, wasteful spending, and opportunity for political gain-ultimately elevating public opinion of his administration but falling flat in achieving the economic revitalization that America so desperately needed from the Great Depression. Folsom takes a critical, revisionist look at Roosevelt's presidency, his economic policies, and his personal life. Elected in 1932 on a buoyant tide of promises to balance the increasingly uncontrollable national budget and reduce the catastrophic unemployment rate, the charismatic thirty-second president not only neglected to pursue those goals, he made dramatic changes to federal programming that directly contradicted his campaign promises. Price fixing, court packing, regressive taxes, and patronism were all hidden inside the alphabet soup of his popular New Deal, putting a financial strain on the already suffering lower classes and discouraging the upper classes from taking business risks that potentially could have jostled national cash flow from dormancy. Many government programs that are widely used today have their seeds in the New Deal. Farm subsidies, minimum wage, and welfare, among others, all stifle economic growth-encouraging decreased productivity and exacerbating unemployment. Roosevelt's imperious approach to the presidency changed American politics forever, and as he manipulated public opinion, American citizens became unwitting accomplices to the stilted economic growth of the 1930s. More than sixty years after FDR died in office, we still struggle with the damaging repercussions of his legacy.

New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America

Tantor Audio

From the acclaimed author of New Deal or Raw Deal?, called “eye-opening” by the National Review, comes a fascinating exposé of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s destructive wartime legacy—and its adverse impact on America’s economic and foreign policies today. Did World War II really end the Great Depression—or did President Franklin Roosevelt’s poor judgment and confused management leave Congress with a devastating fiscal mess after the final bomb was dropped? In this provocative new book, historians Burton W. Folsom, Jr., and Anita Folsom make a compelling case that FDR’s presidency led to evasive and self-serving wartime policies. At a time when most Americans held isolationist sentiments—a backlash against the stunning carnage of World War I—Roosevelt secretly favored an aggressive interventionist foreign policy. Yet, throughout the 1930s, he spent lavishly on his disastrous New Deal programs and slashed defense spending, leaving America vastly unprepared for Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the challenge of fighting World War II. History books tell us the wartime economy was a boon, thanks to massive government spending. But the skyrocketing national debt, food rations, nonexistent luxuries, crippling taxes, labor strikes, and dangerous work of the time tell a different story—one that is hardly the stuff of recovery. Instead, the war ushered in a new era of imperialism for the executive branch. Roosevelt seized private property, conducted illegal wiretaps, tried to silence domestic opposition, and interned 110,000 Japanese Americans. He set a dangerous precedent for entangling alliances in foreign affairs, including his remarkable courtship of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, while millions of Americans showed the courage, perseverance, and fortitude to make the weapons and fight the war. Was Roosevelt a great wartime leader, as historians almost unanimously assert? The Folsoms offer a thought-provoking revision of his controversial legacy. FDR Goes to War will make America take a second look at one of its most complicated presidents.

FDR Goes to War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America

Biographies & Memoirs

Folsom, Anita

Historical

Threshold Editions

From the acclaimed author of New Deal or Raw Deal?, an “eye-opening” (National Review) exposé of FDR’s destructive wartime policies. WAS FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT REALLY A GREAT WARTIME LEADER, AS HISTORIANS ALMOST UNANIMOUSLY ASSERT? The acclaimed author of New Deal or Raw Deal?, called “eye-opening” by the National Review, exposes the negative impact of FDR’s destructive wartime legacy on America’s economic and foreign policies today. History books tell us the World War II economy was a boon, ending the Great Depression thanks to massive government spending. But the skyrocketing national debt, food rations, crippling taxes, and labor strikes of the time tell a story that is hardly the stuff of recovery. Instead, Roosevelt’s poor judgment and confused management left Congress with a devastating fiscal mess after the final bomb was dropped and ushered in a new era of imperialism for the executive branch. In this provocative book, Burton W. Folsom and Anita Folsom make a stunning case that will force America to take a second look at one of its most complicated presidents.

FDR Goes to War

A collection of essays by FEE President Lawrence W. Reed and historian Burton W. Folsom, Jr. that surveys the economic history of the United States and the modern world. Along the way, they dismiss commonly-held fallacies and present the stories of the individuals who changed history and expanded liberty for everyone.

A Republic--If We Can Keep It

History

Reed, Lawrence W.

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Foundation for Economic Education, Incorporated

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