Alexander J. Field from Santa Clara University will be on campus Thursday to deliver a public lecture based on his book, A Great Leap Forward: 1930s Depression and U.S. Economic Growth (Amazon link here).
Professor Field argues that despite the bottoming out of aggregate demand, total factor productivity growth increased faster during the Great Depression than any other decade in U.S. history. My read of the book makes the assertion almost uncontroversial, yet the notion of rapid productivity growth disrupts conventional views on the role of World War II in terms of “getting the US out of the depression,” and also in terms of setting the stage for the post-WWII economic boom. Field makes this case quantitatively, walks through some of the implications, and puts it in historical context, including his thoughts on some recent events. This is very high quality economics and should play very well with economics students and a general audience.
You can read a brief interview with Field on his work in the New York Times.
The talk is Thursday, May 15 at 4:30 p.m. in Wriston Auditorium.
This is the Phi Beta Kappa lecture as part of the Visiting Scholars Series. We are fortunate that the Senior Experience is providing funding to bring Professor Field to campus.