Toro
Diamond Member
FDR did some good things and some bad things.
However, his policies in general contributed to the end of the Depression, though others such as NIRA hurt the country.
Deficit financing, which was running less than 1% of the economy until 1932 (less than any time under W), popped up to ~5% as the government stepped in to replace demand that had collapsed. Other policies, such as the FDIC, were instrumental in stabilizing the banking system. Ben Bernanke has described the FDIC as the single most important factor contributing to the end of the Great Depression. Revaluing the dollar down relative to the price of gold was also important as countries went off the gold standard which caused the Fed to raise interest rates in 1931 from 1.5% to 3.5%, a remarkably counter-cyclical policy.
But don't we already have a long thread on this topic already?
http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...-help-us-get-out-of-the-great-depression.html
However, his policies in general contributed to the end of the Depression, though others such as NIRA hurt the country.
Deficit financing, which was running less than 1% of the economy until 1932 (less than any time under W), popped up to ~5% as the government stepped in to replace demand that had collapsed. Other policies, such as the FDIC, were instrumental in stabilizing the banking system. Ben Bernanke has described the FDIC as the single most important factor contributing to the end of the Great Depression. Revaluing the dollar down relative to the price of gold was also important as countries went off the gold standard which caused the Fed to raise interest rates in 1931 from 1.5% to 3.5%, a remarkably counter-cyclical policy.
But don't we already have a long thread on this topic already?
http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...-help-us-get-out-of-the-great-depression.html