What 1920 means for today

I got published today at Values & Capitalism. Topic is the election of 1920 and why American voters aren’t as hopeless as some pundits might say. In 1920, they voted for deflation and extreme austerity in the form of Warren G. Harding. His acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention called for “thrift and economy, for denial and sacrifice if need be, for a nationwide drive against extravagance and luxury, to a recommittal to simplicity of living, to that prudent and normal plan of life which is the health of the republic.”

Hardly words we’d expect to hear from a winning candidate today. But perhaps last week was a referendum of sorts on unconstrained government and reckless spending. Maybe politicians would do well to start talking like this more often. Forget what the media might make of such sentiments—history shows that ideas like this can be popular.