Sep 24 2008
Revisiting the Great Depression
So, given the current economic crisis in our country it is only natural that Americans are taking a look back at the Great Depression: making comparisons between the banking system then and now, looking at the government’s reaction—which was laissez-faire at first, and testing the safeguards in our society that were established with FDR’s New Deal. There are some great lessons that Americans today can learn from this past experience. But sadly, as usual, Americans are not interested in the past. On Monday CBS News anchor Katie Couric interviewed VP candidate Joe Biden, a politician who is known for speaking “off the cuff,” being unrehearsed and natural even if it means making a mistake. So it is no surprise that Biden got some major history facts wrong in the interview. What is shocking is the decision by CBS news to just let the error go unchecked. If Couric is not quick enough to question him on the spot, CBS should have either edited out the mistake or made a call to the campaign for a response before the interview aired. But the larger issue is that there are great lessons that Americans today can learn from the past…but that means we need to look back.
Here is the clip—see if you can recognize Biden’s history mistake:
