EconTalk
EconTalk
Russ Roberts
John Nye on the Great Depression, Political Economy, and the Evolution of the State
58 minutes Posted Sep 14, 2009 at 6:30 am.
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Show notes

John Nye of George Mason University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the Great Depression, the evolution of the State, and attitudes people have toward free markets. Nye argues that support for modern capitalism is fragile because people have trouble trusting the market process which is based on anonymous exchange with strangers. So when a crisis comes, it leads to demands for a larger role for top-down decision making. Nye sees the Great Depression as part of a larger public disillusionment beginning in World War I.