Economy

No, FDR Did Not Pull America Out of the Great Depression

"The New Deal made investment in America a risky project," says economist Donald J. Boudreaux, author of The Triumph of Economic Freedom.

John Stossel | 4.22.2026 3:15 PM

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(Stossel TV)

Prices rise. People blame capitalism.

Politicians promise "solutions."

President Donald Trump wants to cap credit card interest rates.

My socialist mayor wants to freeze rents.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) wants politicians to decide what prices are "excessive."

So I was surprised to see economist Donald J. Boudreaux's new book titled The Triumph of Economic Freedom.

"Economic freedom is losing!" I shout at him in my new video. "Republicans and Democrats vote against it."

"Free markets are on the ropes," he replies. "But when you look at history, you see that when economic freedom is allowed to flourish, it does triumph….It's really important that people step back and look at economic history…[to see that] the more we move away from free markets, the worse things become."

We should have learned that from the Great Depression.

Schools now teach children that President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New........

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