By Benita Dodd

Atlanta - President Barack Obama has been likened to, compared with and encouraged to be like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, author of the New Deal. The candidate Obama himself recalled how this nation was in the midst of despair and the Depression when FDR took office:

“When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.”

Did FDR’s New Deal – higher taxes, massive federal spending programs and tough regulations on business – work then? Will such an approach work now?

Not according to economic historian Burt Folsom, author of “New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR’s Economic Legacy Has Damaged America.” Dr. Folsom will explain his conclusions at a Georgia Public Policy Foundation Leadership Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 24, 2009, at the Georgian Club in Marietta.

Dr. Folsom, who holds the Charles Kline Chair in History and Management at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., is the author of six books, including “Myth of the Robber Barons,” now in its fifth edition, in which he explains the role of market entrepreneurs and political entrepreneurs.

A native of Lincoln, Neb., Dr. Folsom has also taught at Murray State University and Northwood University, and has worked at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Center for the American Idea. He is Senior Historian at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and writes a quarterly column for FEE’s publication The Freeman.

Register by Friday, February 20, for “New Deal or Raw Deal,” with Dr. Burt Folsom. The cost for this Leadership Breakfast is $25. Reserve your seat online at the Foundation’s Web site or by calling 404-256-4050.
Media interested in attending this event please contact Benita Dodd at benitadodd@gppf.org or 404-256-4050.

The Georgian Club is located at 100 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1700, Atlanta, GA 30339.
Directions: http://www.georgianclub.com/PDF/gcmap.pdf