Joseph Solis-Mullen on lessons from the California wildfires.

"This dynamic offers an instructive analogy for understanding economic crises and the government’s role—or lack thereof—in managing them. Just as deadwood must be cleared from forests to prevent wildfires from raging out of control, economic downturns must be allowed to run their course to purge inefficiencies and allow for renewal. The contrasting approaches of Presidents Warren G. Harding and Herbert Hoover provide a case study in how interventions—or the lack of them—shape the economic landscape."