There are a lot of good books on the subject, if you really give a damn. I'll spare you the lecture. Try the Rothbard book (I forget the title) if you want a good economic study. But I think you would like "Hard Times" by Studs Terkle, an oral history by the witnesses. No secondary sources. No historians spin. Reread my earlier post. I said exactly that the New Deal was ended by World War II. I also said that the New Deal was intended to help the American economy and individual Americans cope with the problem. And we did a better job of it than most countries affected. The economy was returned to pre-depression levels by 1940. We did not suffer mass starvation. Important new programs like Social Security were implemented. You and George Bush don't like it, but the majority of Americans do. The Securities and Exchange Commission was established to keep the stock market abuses that helped cause the crash of 1929 from returning. And the FDIC to insure bank deposits to keep depositors from being totally wiped out.
i'm way too lazy to read all that boring stuff, so i will asume the depression was caused by some stupid government manipulation of the economy, like that smoot hawley protectionist thingamabob. the majority of americans also have a belief system not much different than a 12th century savage.
The SEC, FDIC & new philosophies for the Federal Reserve - all vital. You can argue that the FDIC was not vital & that people would only chose the companies that wouldn't default, but at the time there was no certainty in that & and copmanies had no transparency to know which companies those were. The financial services industry desperately needed regulation & would have continued to go through more extreme cycles without it. And of course the Federal Reserve has learned they can't just do whatever is convenient at the time but has to consider the long-term consequences. It is not purposely vague. Government spending is important to a struggling economy. There are a few parts to the economy, including consumer spending, business spending, a couple other things, but government spending is another big one. edit: I just realize I mistyped - I meant government spending is vital to the economy in the original post.
We're fortunate that people who don't understand economics aren't making our economic policy. Oh wait, that's not true...
you have no clue. There are people who have little to nothing, can't get welfare and can't get a job, due to lack of secondary education or other things. Part of it may be their fault, some circumstantial, some forced, but to blindly say there are no people living in poverty, is just blind. I know a young couple, 25 or so years of age. they have two kids, a boy three and a lil girl who is ten. the dad works as a carpenter, the mom is trying to find work but has no skills and all the minimum wage jobs are filled mostly by teens. Minimum wage wouldn't pay day care so she stays at home. They arent on welfare. The kids do have state sponsored health ins. they live in a shot gun house. Two rooms. The Dad might bring home 400 a week because like you say mexican labor has forced wages down. he is a self employed contractor. for the first half of the summer they couldn't afford a USED refridgerator. they still can't afford one, but they got one now. They have no tv. they aren't the only ones like this. True they do have it better than the impoverished of third world countries, but then again this IS America. but for the grace of God there go I... remember that. you need to see more of the world, come out from behind that silver spoon shoved down your throat.
From what I've read over the weekend, much of the Depression was due to people. When the stock market crashed, people saved all of their money and wouldn't spend anything, so the market was filled with surpluses. When demand goes down and supply goes up, the cost of goods plummets. This artifically lowered the value of the dollar so much that it forced countless people into poverty that wouldn't have been if they weren't so scared. What lesson can we learn from this? Money is worth as much as we think it is, no more, no less. FDR's policies helped restore confidence in the dollar, and the rapid industrialization of WW2 was a big boon as well.
