As “an economic story about how to rebuild a ruined nation,” it’s an apt read for post-recession America, says Michael Kreyling, a scholar of Southern literature at Vanderbilt University. “It's no coincidence that the book found huge popularity upon its release in the 1930s as America struggled to find ways out of the Great Depression,” says Mr. Kreyling, who sees Scarlett O'Hara as “a ruthless entrepreneur who is not going to be stopped by convict labor or anything.” Yahoo goes a step further, offering “Five Economic Principles You Can Learn from Gone With the Wind,” including property ownership, importance of gold, the relationship between marriage and money, and the effect of long wars on a nation’s economy.
