Abstract

Defenders of laissez?faire have not successfully explained the historical experience of the Great Depression. Unemployment was widespread and persistent and cannot be ascribed to government intervention. Legal restrictions offer at best a partial explanation of why real wages did not fall. The Keynesian world view is also supported by experience with investment and equity market volatility, the conversion of Lionel Robbins, the wartime recovery, and the success of postwar macroeconomic performance. Some concluding remarks address how the case for laissez?faire might be revived.