. >> and similar also in that it was an inherited crisis for for martin van buren. >> well, martin van and then his vice president van buren took office on the same day in london and new orleans the panic began, so, yes, it was an inherited crisis, but it was a crisis inherited within an administration. martin van buren was andrew jackson's right-hand man, so he wasn't exactly ignorant of the situation that was going on. >> what would the economy have been like in 1947? what was the driving engine of the u.s. economy? >> well, the period between the 1827 and mid-1830s was one of enormous growth. it was an unbelievable period of american development and the backbone of it was really cotton. the slave pan operations, panded west at a remarkable rate on to land confiscated from native americans and that engine connected to the markets of liverpool and the text time factories in england really drove the economy. england actually supported the american economies in the 1820s and 1830s as sort of the financial backers so internal improvements, building of canals and railroads in the north an

suddenly, it became martin van buren's crisis. that's a political process. >> well, one of the common themes in the narrative is the banks. >> absolutely. >> this time around and in 1837 and, of course, in 1933 under fdr, right? >> of yes, absolutely. i mean, banks are -- and not only have banks been at the core of these crises, but at many moments of crisis. and panic in particular. economic crises that begin with moments of financial panic or financialized panic, you know, have banks at their core. and have different aspects of the whole banking system and the whole system of global finance at their core. in fact, one of the themes, really, that sort of draws all these together is the global nature, the global origins of these crises, which is often a revelation to students. because they think, well, globalization, that happened yesterday. you know? >> and professor lepler is talking about the slave trade and the textile trade from england. >> oh, yeah, and the credit that sort of enabled canals to be built and railroads to be b

. >> so it was an inherited crisis for martin van buren. >> andrew jackson was president, and martin van buren took office in 1837 which was the same day that in london and -- an inherited crisis, but it was a crisis inherited within an administration. he wasn't exactly ignorant of the situation that was going on. >> with what would the economy have been like in 1839, what was the driving engine of the u.s. economy? >> between the mid 1820s and the mid 1830s, it was an enormous period of growth. the backbone was cotton, the slave plantations of the south expanded west at a remarkable rate from land that had been confiscated from native americans and that market extended to the textiles in england. evening land actually supported the american economy in the 1820s and 1830s as financial backers. certainly improvements, building of canals and railroads of the south and the cotton markets of the south drove the american economy. >> when students try to draw parallels between the crisis of 1837 and the 2008 crisis, where do you see the best merging of the past? where are the two similar?

the crisis is suddenly barack obama's crisis and martin van buren's crisis. that's a political process. >> of course in 1933 under fdr, right some. >> absolutely. many moments of crisis and panic in particular. economic crisis that begins with moments of financial panic or financialized panic. they have banks at the core. they have different aspects of the whole banking system and the system of global finance at the core. one of the themes that draws all that and the origins of the crisis. that happened yesterday. the slave trade in the textile trade in england. >> the credit that enabled ca l canals to be built and lands to be purchase and slaves and all of that. it came from england. it came from banks like the roth childs and the big banks in england and the bank of england controlled the credit markets for all of that. banks are an interesting part of the panic of 1837. for a long time, historians focused on the bank runs at the end of the period as the start. that was the end of when people were panicked. the causation was just as politic political, the

peter van buren chronicled some of that waste and criticizes u.s.recent book and ongoing block both . he says, and i quote: joining me now is department of state whistleblower peter van buren, author of "we meant well how i helped lose the battle of the hearts and minds of the iraqi people." when were you there and what were you doing? >> i was in iraq for a year from 2009 to 2010, and i sent there as part of the reconstruction effort. the state department and the government in general realized the fighting, killing, and bombing was not going to be enough. we were going to have to win over the hearts and minds of the iraqi people and the state department sent me and people like me to do that, to win the war. >> for how many years had you been working with and in the united states government prior to going to iraq? >> i had been in the foreign service for 22 years, served overseas almost that entire time mostly in east asia but other parts of the world as well i was a very experienced person and not really shy of bureaucracy. but what i saw in iraq w

but then martin van buren was involved in the race too. and so they split the vote, and they split the democratic vote especially this new york where van buren was strong, and taylor won new york, and he won the election. but it was a matter of the democrats who had formed this coalition to behind james k. polk fragmenting again in 1848 and not really clearly deciding on a candidate. in fact, the democrats dime polk and said -- and asked him to run again in 1848, but he said he had given his pledge, and he really wanted to leave office. he'd had enough. yes, sir. >> was it during this time or early or later that the french had designs on mexico? >> that was later on. that was about 20 years later during the -- actually, that was during the civil war. emperor max mill yang went to mexico, yeah. that happened in the 1860s. the french, or part of the french, banked on the south winning the war or at least splitting the country, and then they were going to be able to deal with confederate states of america, this french entity down in mexico. b

and if you look at van buren's original design, it was a little disturbingly leninist.'s purpose was for only to exclude from the political process the people he thought were especially dangerous, the rent seekers would seize control of the national government. and he gave the blueprint for the party that controlled the government outside the constitution. and again, it has pluses and minuses, but the temptation to do that sort of thing whenever a constitution that is as hard to change as ours, it's going to be overwhelming. >> thank you. i think we're at a point now where we can open the discussion to members of the audience. so if you would please come to the microphone, and identify yourself, and direct your question at a member of the panel. and we will reserve time for professor epstein to ask a question. [laughter] >> dean micki, chapter present at st. john's university law school. i want to put james madison back in the spotlight in terms of foreign affairs, and is like the panel to respond to what madison wrote about power of the president in the constitution. a