There are two main phases (and two minor phases within one major phase) of the American economy between 1930 and now.
1930 until Bretton Woods. And Bretton Woods until now (with two smaller phases within).
1930 until now was when Keynesian first took off...and what a mess it was (though most people are utterly clueless about this).
As I have pointed out MANY times, there were two depressions between 1920 and 1940. One in 1920/21 and the 'Great' Depression of the thirties. And they were 'attacked' two completely different ways.
In the first one, Wilson and Harding basically balanced the budgets and let the economy fix itself. The result? The unemployment rate and the DOW going back to near pre-depression levels (1.4/2.4 & 108/105, respectively) all with a DECLINE in the national debt of over 10% between 1920 and 1923.
http://www.debatepolitics.com/break...ct-w-123-a-post1060907468.html#post1060907468
But during the Great Recession, Hoover and FDR did the opposite, they spent like mad and tried to control the economy. The result? (1930-40/41)...national debt triples, DOW barely reaches 1/2 of it's pre-crash level and unemployment is 5 times worse (in 1939) then it's pre-crash level.
http://www.debatepolitics.com/economics/160861-case-austerity-has-crumbled-7.html#post1061850091
And Keynesians blame these numbers on the recession of 1937-38 on balancing the budget. But what they fail to grip is the fact that the economy had become so TOTALLY dependent on government stimuli, that as soon as the gov't. teat was removed, the economy collapsed. (which, btw, I believe will happen again today).
Then there is port Bretton Woods (1944). Bretton Woods - what an eventual disaster. First, the pathetic and destructive IMF is established. Then the U.S. dollar is made the official world reserve currency (in essence) - which guarantees America will be able to 'print' almost as much money as it wants for decades.
Within this period is the post WW2 boom (roughly 1945 to 1970) when America basically had things as she pleased. All the other major powers were either broke after WW2, destroyed or communist. So naturally, in this climate, America's economy thrived...there is almost no way it could not with virtually no competition. So calling this a victory for big government is a joke.
Then, there is post 1970 when the gold standard collapsed completely (in 1971). And ever since then, America's power has slowly waned. So much so that now, imo, the ONLY thing keeping America from another huge recession is massive government stimulus in the form of huge deficits and massive Fed intervention. In fact, the Fed basically runs the economy...they certainly are running the stock market. The DOW boomed once the Fed stepped in after the 'Great Recession' collapse by 'printing' trillions and trillions of dollars out of thin air. But since QE3 ended on Oct. 30, 2014...the DOW is barely up AND is, in fact, down for the year so far by almost 400 points. Stagnation has set in.
Since the beginning of the Great Recession, when the Fed really started taking over, the economy has done the following: the number of Americans on food stamps has risen about 17 million. The number of people working in the all important 25-54 age range has dropped by millions (and, for those that say this is because of demographics---think again as the employment to population ratio - which takes demographics into account - has dropped in that time from 79.4% to 76.5% (which is not good).
Plus, the national debt has roughly doubled...and that does not even include the $4+ trillion on the Fed's books.
Since America decided to allow governments to have FAR bigger roles in things, America gas gotten far weaker economically. During the thirties, she stagnated under massive government stimulus. After the war, she thrived because she had ZERO competition. And since the gold standard died, she has slowly deteriorated. AND, finally, since around 2001 (when the Fed first started muscling in on things), her economy has done badly and is now stuck on stagnation mode again.
Today, fundamentals mean little as corporations just basically look to the Fed for guidance. And banks do not bother lending to almost anyone (which is (imo) primarily why the M2 money velocity is the lowest in 55 years and still falling) as they just sit back and make money on the 'carry trade' (again, thanks to the Fed).
1930-1990 is little to do with Austrian School and almost everything to do with big government. And as the government gets bigger, the economy stagnates more.