Republicans in the 1950s were not the same as Republicans after Nixon and Goldwater. Interesting you single out 1953. There was a recession the very same year!

Republicans in the 1950s were not the same as Republicans after Nixon and Goldwater. Interesting you single out 1953. There was a recession the very same year! Not a lot of data on it (some JSTOR papers I can't access), but restrictive credit policies, massive military Keynesianism and housing supply shortages are listed as causing factors. Go figure. Then, of course, another much more severe recession hit the Eisenhower period again (but nowadays mostly forgotten) in 1958. Unemployment soared to 7% nationwide and in particular places like Detroit up to 20%. It's difficult to tell how it was alleviated, but this wealth advisor's [1] retrospective analysis claim a highly modest and fiscally conservative response (no great deficits). Wikipedia also cites a 2011 book "Eiseinhower and the Cold War Economy" which claims that some deregulation of mortgage loans helped in the recovery. So, I can't immediately tell if a "locked-down economy" was the cause of the boom, or if it happened in spite of it. The post-WWII boom began as early as 1946, so I'm uncertain. [1] http://bradleyandco.blogspot.com/2009/02/as-bad-as-1958-recession-that-works.html http://bradleyandco.blogspot.com/2009/02/as-bad-as-1958-rece...