i was watching tv last night when i heard a fella say that FDR prolonged the great depression. is he correct? thoughts? was it the markets fault or not?

What kind of "fella" was this? Was he a fella like David McCullough, or was he a fella like Ann Coulter?

--PunkDavid

he was a rotund fella on hannity and colmes. claimed that FDR prolonged the great depression, and the market was not the culprit it's made out to be.

And did this fella mention what FDR's motives were for delaying this depression?

i don't think he was insinuating that roosevelt actively chose to keep americans mired in poverty, but rather the depression was prolonged as a result of his economically ignorant policies. i think. opinions?

The way that I've always understood it is that FDR's policies didn't practically do much to lift us out of the Depression, but they gave the people a lot more hope than under Hoover.

Yeah, I think I'd have to agree with that. The WAR pulled us out of the depression. Putting people to work on the government's dime doesn't help the economy much (the additional consumer power is outweighed by the public expenditures), but is certainly does make the people happier and more hopeful.

At the time, I think if Roosevelt had not done what he did in that pinch, we may very well have had a Communist or Fascist uprising in America among the 30-35% who were unemployed. Some things Roosevelt did, like outlawing the private ownership of gold, absolutely did put the brakes on an economy hurtling towards a cliff though.

--PunkDavid

Good point PD and GH.

dammit, I meant to talk to my father about this last week.
WWII verteran, child of the depression, FDR supporter.
Next week for sure I'm talking to him about it.

Heh, considering I grew up in FDR-Land in New York, it's tough to look at this objectively; the town I grew up in happens to be the town in which FDR lived, so from the moment I sat in a first grade desk, I was taught how great FDR was. Anyhow:

I'm pretty much in agreement with PunkDavid on this one. I was having a discussion about this with a colleague two days ago and basically stated my points in exactly the same manner as PD. So, score one for PD.

Yeah. FDR didn't seem to do anything. It was the war creating jobs that got us out of the depression, thats about it. But I never heard about FDR making it worse or prolonging it.

Now I would never say FDR didn't do anything. I think he saved democracy, with his New Deal programs, nothing less. No shit. As for his direct impact on the depression, I think this is an excellent illustration of how little power a president really has on the economy.

--PunkDavid

Oh yes he had successful programs. When I said he did nothing, I was referring to the economy only.

Some would say that the New Deal was a fascist revolution all onto itself. The outlaw of private gold ownership has always seemed particularly wrong to me, in all honesty.

I think in regards to the depression FDR's actions were irrelevant. I firmly believe the economy of the United States is cyclical and there are very few outside variables that could effect us in a fiscal nature to the extent that your theory would suggest.

Perhaps you misunderstand my theory. I also believe that the economy is cyclical, and that FDR's actions did little directly to affect the economy. I believe his social programs were instrumental however in staving off a rise in the influence of totalitarianism in America, as it was gaining great traction in many parts of the world in the 1930's. This is how he saved democracy.

--PunkDavid

Both of these points illustrate how vague of a statement it would be to say "FDR's programs succeeded/failed". Like we seem to generally agree, it wasn't as simple as that.

*clap clap clap*

Lemme sober up a bit, Ill post in the morning and perhaps I can clear my position up a bit.

It rarely is.