Friday, July 02, 2004

Calvin Coolidge was born on the Fourth of July

Lewrockwell.com has a tribute to him.

Here's the meat of it:

Under Coolidge, the top income tax rate of 65% under Wilson was eventually cut to 20%. The stock market began its unprecedented "roaring 20s" climb as it became clear through 1924 that Coolidge's tax reduction bill would pass.

In both his first and last year in office, federal receipts were $3.8 billion and expenditures were $3.1 billion, and in between, he cut the national debt from $22.3 billion to $16.9 billion.

His policies took more than a million people off the income tax rolls, and 98% of Americans paid no income tax at the end of his term. As a result, America prospered under Coolidge. Real economic growth averaged 7% per year while he was in office (the highest growth on record), while inflation averaged only 0.4%. Investment, manufacturing output, and disposable income rose dramatically, and unemployment averaged 3.3%.
...
people have attributed to Coolidge the origins of the Great Depression under Herbert Hoover, his Vice-President. But they have not done so because of any evidence that his policies were responsible.

Along with monetary policy blunders, the Great Depression was triggered by Hoover's abandonment of Coolidge's policies, in favor of disasters ranging from erecting monumental trade barriers to sharply raising tax rates.

Never was this divide between the policies of the two made clearer than when Coolidge said of Hoover: "That man has offered me unsolicited advice for six years, all of it bad."

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