tailieunhanh - THE PANIC OF 1819 Reactions and Policies BY MURRAY N. ROTHBARD

The Panic of 1819 was America’s first great economic crisis and depression. For the first time in American history, there was a crisis of nationwide scope that could not simply and directly be attributed to specific dislocations and restrictions-such as a famine or wartime blockades. Neither could it be simply attributed to the machinations or blunders of one man or to one upsetting act of government, which could be cured by removing the offending cause. In such a way had the economic dislocations from 1808-15 been blamed on “Mr. Jefferson’s Embargo” or “Mr. Madison’s War.”1 In short, here was a crisis marked with strong hints of modern depressions;. | THE PUNIC ŨHII19 REACTIONS AND POLICIES THE PANIC OF 1819 Reactions and Policies BY MURRAY N. ROTHBARD Online edition prepared by William Harshbarger. Cover prepared by Chad Parish. Auburn Alabama Ludwig von Mises Institute 2002. Originally published by Columbia University Press New York and London 1962 . PREFACE The Panic of 1819 was America s first great economic crisis and depression. For the first time in American history there was a crisis of nationwide scope that could not simply and directly be attributed to specific dislocations and restrictions-such as a famine or wartime blockades. Neither could it be simply attributed to the machinations or blunders of one man or to one upsetting act of government which could be cured by removing the offending cause. In such a way had the economic dislocations from 1808-15 been blamed on Mr. Jefferson s Embargo or Mr. Madison s War. 1 In short here was a crisis marked with strong hints of modern depressions it appeared to come mysteriously from within the economic system itself. Without obvious reasons processes of production and exchange went awry. Confronted with a new vital phenomenon Americans looked for remedies and for understanding of the causes the better to apply the remedies. This epoch of American history is a relatively neglected one and a study of the search for remedies presents an instructive picture of a people coming to grips with the problems of a business depression problems which in modified forms were to plague Americans until the present day. The 1819-21 period in America generated internal controversies and furnished a rich economic literature. The newspapers in particular provide a relatively untapped vein for study. The leading editors were sophisticated and influential men many of them learned in economics. The caliber of their editorials was high and their reasoning keen. The newspaper editors constituted in fact some of the leading economists of the day. The depression galvanized the press .