What caused the Great Depression? Don’t trust history textbooks

"History is a pack of lies about events that never happened." [Bloomberg]( This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today,  a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion publishes each week based on web readership. New subscribers can [sign up here]( . [Historians Need a Reality Check on the Great Depression]( — Aaron Brown The philosopher George Santayana famously wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” but also, less famously, “History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there.” I was thinking of both quotes as I read a recent paper comparing the wildly different causes given for the Great Depression between college American history and economics textbooks (Jeremy Horpedahl, Phillip Magness, and Marcus Witcher, “Teaching the Causes of Great Depression to College Students: Evidence from History, Economics, and Economic History Textbooks,” Journal of Economics and Finance Education). This matters because we are undergoing an economic transition that might be comparable in magnitude to the 1930s. The economic consensus that produced the “[Great Moderation](” was smashed by the financial crisis in 2008. But unlimited monetary and fiscal stimulus seemed to solve economic problems up to and including pandemic disruptions — mysteriously not bringing the inflation conventional wisdom predicted. Inflation returned in 2022 in a painful way and, although it appears to be under control now, few are confident we understand it. Read the [whole thing](. [The 10 Most Intriguing Science Breakthroughs of 2023]( — F.D. Flam [The US and Europe Risk Flunking Geopolitics 101]( — Niall Ferguson [The Trump Comet and Four More 2024 Predictions]( — Adrian Wooldridge [Hit the Houthis — and Iran — Where It Counts]( — James Stavridis [America Has a New Axis of Evil to Prevent]( — Andreas Kluth [One of Aviation’s Biggest Challenges Played Out on a Tokyo Runway]( — Tim Culpan [It’s Not Tesla in BYD’s Sights. It’s the Whole Car Industry]( — David Fickling [Putin’s War Machine Depends on a Railroad Built by Tsars]( — Hal Brands [Harvard Is the Model for Attacking Corporate DEI Efforts]( — Beth Kowitt [Trump Took $7.8 Million in Foreign Cash While in Office. He’d Do It Again.]( — Tim O’Brien Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022