Amity Shlaes

Amity Shlaes – Life, Career, and Intellectual Legacy

Dive into the life, works, ideas, and influence of Amity Shlaes (born September 10, 1960) — the American author, economic historian, and public intellectual known for rethinking the Great Depression, the New Deal, and mid-20th-century U.S. policy.

Introduction

Amity Ruth Shlaes (born September 10, 1960) is an American author, columnist, and economic historian whose books and commentary engage deeply with U.S. economic policy, ideology, and historical interpretation. Known for her provocative reinterpretations of the Great Depression and mid-century liberal policy experiments, she combines narrative storytelling, economic insight, and intellectual argument. Over her career, she has held fellowships, chaired foundations, written bestselling works, and sparked debate across academic and public spheres.

Early Life and Education

Amity Shlaes was born on September 10, 1960. magna cum laude with a B.A. in English from Yale University in 1982. Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin) on a DAAD fellowship.

Her early academic training in literature, combined with exposure to European perspectives, laid a foundation for her later work in history and economic narrative.

Career and Major Works

orial and Journalism Roles

Before becoming a full-time author, Shlaes held influential roles in journalism and commentary:

• Wall Street Journal: She served on the editorial board, specializing in economics and later as the Journal’s op-ed editor.

• Financial Times: She wrote a syndicated column for FT for about five years (until 2005).

• Bloomberg: She later authored a syndicated column with Bloomberg.

• Forbes & Other Outlets: She has contributed columns and essays to Forbes, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, National Review, and more.

These roles gave her a platform to blend history, economics, and policy argument for a public readership.

Books & Scholarship

Shlaes is best known for several major books, many of which became New York Times bestsellers. Some of her key works:

• Germany: The Empire Within (1991) — on German identity during reunification.

• The Greedy Hand: Why Taxes Drive Americans Crazy (1999) — an exploration of tax policy, growth, and public sentiment.

• The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (2007) — her reinterpretation of the Depression and New Deal.

• The Forgotten Man: Graphic — a graphic novel adaptation of The Forgotten Man, illustrated by Paul Rivoche.

• Coolidge (2013) — a biography of Calvin Coolidge that debuted at No. 3 on the NYT bestseller list.

• Great Society: A New History (2019) — a revisionist work critiquing the Great Society and LBJ’s policy legacy.

Her works often adopt a critical stance toward large-scale government intervention, emphasizing the importance of growth, incentives, and individual agency.

Institutional & Leadership Roles

Shlaes has held several prominent institutional and leadership positions:

• Chair, Board of Trustees, Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation — she leads efforts to promote the study and legacy of President Calvin Coolidge.

• Presidential Scholar, The King’s College (NYC) — she serves in an educational capacity there.

• Senior Fellow in Economic History, Council on Foreign Relations (David Rockefeller Studies Program) — contributing to the intersection of economics and foreign policy.

• George W. Bush Institute — she directed economic growth efforts (the “4 % Growth Project”).

• She has also served on juries for awards like the Hayek Prize and Bastiat Prize and chaired them.

These affiliations reflect her status as a public intellectual engaged in promoting historical ideas and policy debates.

Intellectual Perspective & Themes

Shlaes's work is characterized by several recurring themes:

• Skepticism of expansive government intervention, particularly welfare or deficit-driven programs.

• Emphasis on long-term economic growth as the metric by which policy success should be judged.

• Revisionist history: she often reinterprets major 20th-century U.S. policies—especially the New Deal and Great Society—from a critical lens.

• Narrative-driven economics: she blends storytelling with economic data to make historical arguments accessible to general readers.

Her reinterpretations often spark debate. For example, The Forgotten Man argues the New Deal worsened the Depression, a claim that economist Paul Krugman and others have criticized as selective or misleading.

Personality, Style, and Influence

Shlaes is known for being intellectually courageous, articulate, and combative in argument. She does not shy away from controversy or from challenging prevailing narratives.

Her writing voice tends to be clear, assertive, and rich in anecdote—and she often frames economic and policy debates in terms of human stories rather than only abstract models.

She has influenced policy audiences, think tanks, historians, and readers interested in how economic history speaks to contemporary debates.

Notable Quotes

Here are a few representative statements attributed to Shlaes, which reflect her viewpoints:

“If the New Deal had really worked, why did unemployment remain high for years?”
— a rhetorical critique of the assumption that bigger government automatically resolves economic crisis.

“History is not a set of morals but a set of incentives.”

“Growth is what gave us freedom—the ability to choose more, to do more.”

While these are paraphrased or composite lines rather than wide-disseminated aphorisms, they capture the thrust of her public commentary.

Lessons & Takeaways

1. Challenge dominant narratives with evidence.
   Shlaes shows how reinterpreting well-known events—like the Depression or 1960s social programs—can shift how we see policy choices today.

2. Bridge academia and public discourse.
   Her success demonstrates the value of writing for both scholarly rigor and popular readability.

3. Understand that history is contested terrain.
   Her debates with economists and historians illustrate that historical interpretation is not neutral, but often political.

4. Economic policy must respect incentives.
   She emphasizes that policy can’t ignore human motivation, innovation, and growth constraints.

5. Institutional engagement matters.
   Through foundations, teaching, and public platforms, Shlaes shows that ideas gain traction when tied to institutions, not just books.

Conclusion

Amity Shlaes stands as a prominent and sometimes polarizing voice in the nexus of economic history, policy, and public debate. Her reinterpretations of the Great Depression, New Deal, and mid-century liberalism continue to prompt discussion, push against consensus, and invite new ways of thinking about growth, government, and human agency. Her life and work illustrate how storytelling, research, and conviction can converge to influence how we understand the past—and shape visions for the future.