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| Amity Shlaes | |
|---|---|
| Name | Amity Shlaes |
| Birth date | 1960 |
| Birth place | New York City |
| Occupation | Journalist, historian, author |
| Education | Gainesville, Florida; Yale University, University of Oxford |
| Notable works | The Forgotten Man; Coolidge |
Amity Shlaes is an American author and commentator known for her writings on Great Depression, 1920s, 1930s fiscal policy, and conservative public policy debates, and for her advocacy of market-oriented reforms. She has written for major outlets and led think tanks, influencing discussions involving figures such as Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Milton Friedman, and institutions like the National Review, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. She is associated with debates over New Deal, Great Society, Reaganomics, and later discussions about the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic economic policy.
Born in New York City, she grew up in a household connected to Upper East Side cultural life and later moved to Gainesville, Florida where her formative education intersected with local civic institutions and regional media. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in history, interacting with scholars associated with Sterling Professorships and campus organizations tied to debates over Cold War historiography and Civil Rights Movement scholarship. She pursued postgraduate study at the University of Oxford under programs linked to transatlantic intellectual exchange, engaging historians of the Interwar period, scholars focused on Progressive Era politics, and archivists from repositories such as the Bodleian Library.
Shlaes began her professional trajectory in journalism at publications including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times Book Review, where she reported on finance stories tied to institutions like the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. She served as a columnist and editorial board member at the Los Angeles Times and the Bloomberg News network, commenting on episodes involving the S&L crisis, the Great Recession, and post-2000 fiscal policy debates involving the Bush administration and Obama administration. She directed the New America Foundation's economic initiatives and later led the Council on Foreign Relations-affiliated projects and the Manhattan Institute-style policy forums, collaborating with think tanks including the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the Hoover Institution. Her leadership roles included presidency of the Coleman Foundation-style nonprofit initiatives and chairing advisory boards that interfaced with foundations such as the Gates Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation.
Shlaes authored The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, a study that juxtaposes the policies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt and references economists like John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, Anna Schwartz, and historians such as David M. Kennedy and Arthur Schlesinger Jr.. She wrote Coolidge, a biography engaging primary sources from the Library of Congress and archives on Calvin Coolidge, placing Coolidge in context with contemporaries including Warren G. Harding, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. Other books include works on taxation policy debates, chronicles of fiscal episodes involving the New Deal agencies like the SEC, the FDIC, and the WPA, and edited volumes that brought together essays referencing figures such as Ronald Reagan, Ayn Rand, Joseph Schumpeter, and Friedrich Hayek. Her articles have appeared in National Review, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and she has debated policy with journalists and scholars including Paul Krugman, Niall Ferguson, Jonah Goldberg, and David Brooks.
Shlaes advocates for market-oriented approaches and fiscal restraint, arguing for limited intervention compared to expansive programs associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. She has critiqued regulatory responses tied to the Glass-Steagall Act repeal debates, discussed responses to the 2008 financial crisis including the Troubled Asset Relief Program and proposals from Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner, and promoted tax policies resonant with themes from Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover era fiscal conservatism. She has engaged with policy communities at the American Enterprise Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Institution on topics ranging from social security reform, Medicare financing, and trade policy debates involving World Trade Organization disputes and NAFTA-era adjustments. Her advocacy includes media appearances on networks such as PBS, CNN, Fox News, and she has testified before congressional committees chaired by members of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.
Her work has attracted praise from conservative intellectuals and endorsements from figures like Milton Friedman-aligned scholars and commentators at National Review and the Wall Street Journal editorial pages, while drawing critique from progressive historians and economists including scholars at Harvard University, Columbia University, and Princeton University. Critics have challenged her interpretations of the Great Depression and her assessments of Franklin D. Roosevelt policies, citing historians such as Eric Foner, Anthony Badger, and economists like Paul Krugman and Christina Romer who emphasize different macroeconomic readings and the role of fiscal stimulus. Debates over her methodology reference archival work by Alan Brinkley and statistical analysis from researchers affiliated with National Bureau of Economic Research, generating scholarly exchanges in journals and platforms such as The Journal of Economic History and The New York Review of Books.
She lives in New York City and has participated in cultural institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New-York Historical Society, and in civic circles associated with Columbia University and Yale University alumni networks. Honors include fellowships and awards from organizations such as the Manhattan Institute-affiliated prizes, nominations for national book awards alongside works recognized by the Pulitzer Prize committees, and invitations to lecture at venues including Harvard University, University of Chicago, Stanford University, and the Kennedy School of Government. She has served on boards and advisory councils linked to archives like the Library of Congress and educational nonprofits connected to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.