From a review of Doug Irwin’s important new book Peddling Protectionism: Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression (Princeton University Press, 2011): Hoover had famously received a petition signed by 1,028 economists urging him to veto the bill. Then as now, economists were held in warm regard by Congress; Senator Samuel Shortridge remarked: “I am not...
Read More »

After our Forbes magazine piece, “Sheila Bair’s Legacy: Bailouts, Secrecy and Power Grabs,” the FDIC found time to respond to our comments. The response was penned by FDIC General Counsel Michael Krimminger, who refers to our editorial as “more personal attack than commentary.” Let’s make a clear distinction here. Our commentary was entirely based in...
Read More »