And what did Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s policies consist of? Increasing the Federal Government in it’s scope, it’s power, and it’s size by spending amounts of money that were previously unheard of and creating federally subsidized programs to regulate labor contracts, housing, the financial sector, and the agricultural sector.
Here are a couple of great selections from the UCLA study; and remember, this was written in 2004:
“Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump,” said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA’s Department of Economics. “We found that a relapse isn’t likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies.”…
“The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes,” Cole said. “Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened.“
Again, this study was done by world-class UCLA economists. These guys are, by any account, some of the brightest and most intelligent economic minds in the entire world. I just wish someone in our current administration was actually studying this stuff too.
Source: FDR’s policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate / UCLA Newsroom
One Comment
Very interesting. It’s sad how little we learn from the mistakes of previous generations. Because of this we’re doomed to repeat it. Humans by nature have so much pride that we just think we know best, forgetting that there is nothing new under the sun and it might benefit us some to take a looksy at those who have walked before us.