The miracle is that we didn’t nationalize everything. People were literally starving and the old way appeared to have totally failed, and the intellectual currents were running in favor of government control — that was the sophisticated, progressive way of thinking. Fortunately, Americans were not that interested in what the intellectuals had to say, and mostly hung onto their notions of private property until things began to turn around. But it was a close run thing.

I have always believed that FDR, in the context of his times, was a conservative force. He tended to use strong rhetoric, then do a lot less than he threatened. Other people were advocating much more aggressive action. When Alf Landon ran in 1936 on a program only a little less statist than Hoover’s and been, and not much less than FDR’s was, he got annihilated in the election.

The growth of government occured in America in response to crises, and it usually did not shrink back to its original level. The progressives pre-World War I wanted a big growth of government, but the public support was not there for a massive expansion. World War I was their moment. Then the Depression. Then World War II. The book to read on this subject is Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government by Robert Higgs.

Still, it seems to me that government has become increasingly fond of telling citizens what’s best for them.