The Great Depression Case
Essay Preview: The Great Depression Case
Report this essay
The Great Depression touched and, in most cases, influenced very negatively the life of almost each American in the United States (and that is not counting the negative influence that this Depression caused in Europe and other parts of the world). Hoover was regarded too passive, having done nothing to help the nation in such dark times1 and that is why Roosevelt, a relative of Theodore R, was looked upon with hope. FDR did not disappoint. He proposed a New Deal, a number of economic programs and policies, which had to be implemented in a limited period of time – the sooner the better. The implementation of all necessary elements took 5 years.
The first step was to get through the First Hundred Days: Roosevelt made Congress work for 100 days through, non-stop, in order to accept all necessary legislation to start climbing out of the Depression hole. This period is one of those things that made Roosevelt such a popular president. Walter Lippmann noted that toward the end of the February of 1933 the country was nothing more than a gathering of panic-stricken crowd, when closer to June, after the first 100 days passed people became once more and organized nation, which was again in control of its destiny. 2
The next step was reforming banking system. Emergency Banking Relief Act was created to return trust of the populace towards banks, so that the cash flow to the latter could be restored. A series of alphabet agencies was created: CCC, CWA, WPA, PWA – dealt with providing jobs and fighting the extremely high level of unemployment; FDIC, HOLC, FHA – they provided necessary protection and reassurance for bank deposits, homes, and mortgages; AAA – dealt with assisting farmers and performed such tasks, as giving subsidies and maintain constant prices.
During the Second New Deal produced a very important development, which is still actively functions and influences the life of each American – Social Security Act. Curiously enough, when the Depression hit, the United States were the only one among other modern industrial countries, which did not have any national plan or system of social security. 3 The Social Security act of 1935, which established a fund, which was designed to help each citizen, once the latter became eligible for a pension and/or could not find a job to support oneself. Social Security remains even nowadays the biggest program, supported by the government, having 20, 8 percent of the budget pie each year.
New Deal showed that sometimes it is quite useful, when government directly interferences with the economic matters. In 1937, however, there was a considerable recession, during which the rate of unemployment rocketed skyward and the level of production fell. This unpleasant situation lasted until 1938 and FDR fell under criticism from those, who though that his policy does not let businesses expand adequately.
Whether the New Deal worked or not – we will never know. The country was completely