ABSTRACT
The influence of David Cushman Coyle on the New Deal and on the new habits of thought during the 1930s has not received the attention both deserve. Noting that three of Coyle's books had sold over a million copies, Scholastic magazine wrote in 1936 that he was "credited with influencing more Americans than any other writer on phases of the New Deal." In arguing for consumer spending and against saving/investment, Coyle was reversing the traditional American virtue that had been preached at least since Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard. Coyle claimed descent from arrivals on the Mayflower. Shortly after the article was published, Coyle expanded it into a self-published 45-page pamphlet entitled: The Irrepressible Conflict: Business and Finance. Coyle explained that in "the power age" there were two new mechanical factors. The first was that the new age required less labor, due to automation; the second was that the same amount of investment could now produce a more productive plant.
