The Brew Deal : How Beer Helped Battle the Great Depression

During the final stages of Prohibition, the US government allowed the consumption and sale of "non-intoxicating" beer, which was at or below 3.2% alcohol-by-weight. Beer's return--permitted with an eye toward job creation during the Great Depression--was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's earliest New Deal policies. In this book, economist Jason E. Taylor takes readers through the rapid resurgence of American breweries and shows how beer helped spark a sharp recovery in the spring of 1933. Taylor begins with stories of how the nation's 1,400 breweries were decimated by the onset of Prohibition in 1920. He then turns to the frothy debates that led Congress to declare 3.2 beer "non-intoxicating," and hence allowable under Prohibition. While April 7th is now celebrated as "National Beer Day," the original April 7th--when legal beer returned after more than 13 years away--brought raucous scenes that make today's Mardi Gras festivities seem tame by comparison. The Brew Deal shares stories of breweries, people, politics, perseverance, and the various roles that 3.2 beer has played--and continues to play--in the evolving American beer scene. Jason E. Taylor is Jerry and Felicia Campbell Professor of Economics at Central Michigan University, where he has taught for more than twenty years. Before joining CMU, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio University and a PhD in economics from the University of Georgia. Taylor was Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia from 1998 to 2003, and he served as Editor-in-Chief of Essays in Economic & Business History between 2012 and 2018. Taylor's research is focused on US economic history, industrial organization, and public policy. His work can be found in popular and scholarly publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, USA Today, The Journal of Economic History, The Journal of Law and Economics, Public Choice, Economica, and The Journal of Industrial Economics, among others. He has won numerous teaching and research awards including the President's Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity at Central Michigan University.