Did Franklin Roosevelt's policies prolong the great depression?

[Worthingtons]

You gonna sort it all out if it happens then diss??

From my studies, and they were somewhat brief it seems like Roosevelt reversed the spiral effect which was an important thing becuase America was plummeting at the time he took over.

[Kidlicious]

Look at Hitlers strategy for getting out of a depression. That's how it's done. Except for the thing about trying to take over the world that is.

Japan's not really in a depression like that. They are in more of a very long recession, but you could say that a long recession is a depression. It's just not as bad yet, and the Japanese have handled it much better than the US did back then.

I don't think you can say there is a 20% chance of a depression. You just can't measure those things.

[Giancarlo]

Kidicious, so you think the militarization of the society is the proper way to go? Seig heil.

Japan is just stuck in an awful spirial of deflation. Nothing like the great depression.. but bad enough.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Fez
Kidicious, so you think the militarization of the society is the proper way to go? Seig heil.

First they spent a bunch of money on public works. That's what got the economy moving, but military build up works too.

[Ben Kenobi]

Fez:

Hitler did do a good job domestically at alleviating the depression in Germany. Everybody calls him a magnetic personality who convinced people and leave it at that to explain his public support, but they forget that Hitler helped straighten out the economy. Are you going to oppose someone who helps you get a job?

[Giancarlo]

Yes.. but the man was still evil... sure he got it on the right track.. but was evil.

[St Leo]

Fez dissing Hitler? Wow.

[Sava]

Originally posted by DanS
His policies helped alleviate the human toll, but I have my doubts about whether his policies made much economic impact overall.

I agree with this statement.

[The Templar]

Originally posted by Berzerker
Yes, his policies prolonged the Depression. Diverting resources from productive endeavors doesn't help an economy. Just look at Japan's attempts to pull out of it's decade long slump.

Of course! Productive activities like the construction of more Hoover-towns! When you have massive unemployment like that, nobody has money to buy things - which means that productive endevors in the private sector aren't making money.

The reason FDR failed to solve the Great Depression is that he didn't go far enough. Luckily, you had Huey P. Long on the left pushing FDR to stay the course. Had Senator Long not been assassinated, he likely would have been president and the country would have been much better off.

[The Templar]

Originally posted by TheStinger
Not putting up tarriffs would have ended the depression much sooner

Same old neoliberal claptrap - and from a Eurosceptic no less!

Sure, lower tarriffs, allowing an influx of cheaper foreign goods at a time when you have over 20% unemployment. Consumers with jobs, rightly fearing for their future in those times buy up the cheaper foreign goods. This exaserbates the industrial collapse at home, bringing further unemployment. Nice shootin' Tex! Go ask a Peruvian how lowering tarriffs in the mid '90s perked their economy right up.

Same old protestant ethic and the invisible hand of the marketplace. The marketpalce isn't God, and there is no invisible hand that assures optimal results. The economy is just as open to engineering and control as any other machine.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by The Templar
The reason FDR failed to solve the Great Depression is that he didn't go far enough. Luckily, you had Huey P. Long on the left pushing FDR to stay the course. Had Senator Long not been assassinated, he likely would have been president and the country would have been much better off.

Yeah, too bad. He would have been great.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Had Senator Long not been assassinated, he likely would have been president and the country would have been much better off.

Yes... so much better. 30 years of Long (if wasn't assasinated sooner) with a welfare state that Sweden hasn't seen yet, destroying our economy and letting the USSR win the Cold War. Perfect .

Then again, Congress probably wouldn't have put up with it and would let him get anyting done.. unless Huey decided a coup and dictatorship would be nice... which is not too far off from what he did in Louisiana when he was governor.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Had Senator Long not been assassinated, he likely would have been president and the country would have been much better off.

Yes... so much better. 30 years of Long (if wasn't assasinated sooner) with a welfare state that Sweden hasn't seen yet, destroying our economy and letting the USSR win the Cold War. Perfect .

Then again, Congress probably wouldn't have put up with it and would let him get anyting done.. unless Huey decided a coup and dictatorship would be nice... which is not too far off from what he did in Louisiana when he was governor.

That is just great... there was a senator like this? Some socialist in the US that would of never got elected anyways to the office of presidency anyways.

And take a look at Templar's avatar? Good thing the evil empire is gone. Good riddance.

[Sten Sture]

The Federal Reserve tightening interest rates by 200 basis points (2 percentage points) in the middle of the depression didn't help a whole lot.

[Giancarlo]

Also Templar, "Ike" Eisenhower was far more popular than any other politican during the 50s.. so it is unlikely your prediction would of happened if Long wasn't assassinated.