The Great Depression

The Great Depression had a negative effect on American sports. Baseball teams were in dire financial straights. The Cincinnati Reds declared bankruptcy. Players had their pay cut by 25-percent, but that was still less than the average worker, who had their pay cut by 50-percent.

He got Congress to pass new banking regulations and a variety of public works and jobs programs to stimulate the economy. The final fix was to draft some 500,000 men into the army and greatly increase defense spending.

Nobody wants to be depressed only if your trying to seek some pitiful attention as depressoin is a illness and wanting depression is like saying you want cancer as you can die, As when you have depression you can come to the time in your life you want to end it and nobody wants you to die even if you think nobody loves you or cares but they do and you would be a fool to waste life so says some people but depression turns you like that xxx keep safe love Tina -15

People did have a hard time finding shelter during the Great Depression. President Hoover was President when the Depression first hit and had a firm stance that the government should stay out of the economy as much as possible. He believed that the economy would solve the situation itself and took very little action to help the citizens of the United States.

In his honor, people dubbed the makeshift towns "Hoovervilles." The were full or poorly built shacks, with people living in bad conditions right on top of each other. World War II and President Roosevelt helped to bring about the change in the way things were in the United States during the Great Depression.

much more expensive

In October of 1929 with the crash of the stock market.

well they were very bad looking

experimentation with federal programs

Profits were down because customers had no money.

liberal

When the great depression hit Britain, its economy flopped badly because they had no money to manufacture any more iron, steel, textile, etc. The value of pounds dropped that it wasnt worth the price of gold anymore. The economy of Britain couldnt lend out loans to other countries anymore and they couldnt continue their trade with their main trader Germany.

Following the little done by the Hoover administration to help the economic situation, FDR projected confidence in his first inaugural address. FDR did not know much about economics but he knew enough to gather around him the brightest minds, known as his "Brain Trust." They, and FDR, pumped out suggestion after suggestion and sent one bill after another to Congress. If something didn't work, they tried something else. It gave the citizen the feeling that the federal government was doing something. FDR began his "fireside chats" over the radio. He talkedwith the people, not to them. His confidence was settling to the people who were afraid of their economic future. The first hundred days of his administration saw agency after agency created, bill after bill enacted by Congress and work program after work program putting people to work.

Cutting government spending to avoid going into debt

First, it is worth noting that by the time the US entered the war, the economy was well on its way to recovering. But the war accelerated that process, creating many new jobs and providing the opportunity for companies to hire more people. For example: factories were now making war materials (such as guns, tanks, airplanes, warships, etc). Work hours were increased. 500,000 men were drafted into the military, and that left many openings, which could be filled by women, minorities, older people-- anyone not fit enough to fight overseas. Farmers were encouraged to plant more. Since everyone was encouraged to help the war effort, labor issues were put aside: strikes and lock-outs were unthinkable. In fact, even companies that had been hesitant to hire minorities (or women) began doing so, in order to increase production and meet the country's needs. The result was an economy that grew, putting an end to the last vestiges of the Great Depression.

by pick-pocketing, shop lifting, and robbing people.

Well, there were several but the most important ones were a 20% to 25% reduction in the money supply by the Federal Reserve Board, the almost total ending of foreign trade resulting from the Smoot-Hawley tarrif and the financial losses by middle and upper income people who had been heavily invested in the stock market with borrowed money.

because of the dust bowl, which was a result of over farming and not rotating crops. The topsoil was lost and the farm lands dried up.

Postwar reparations led to hyperinflation and economic collapse in Germany.

The Tariff Act of 1930 raised tariff fees on imported goods to a historical high. Meant to help US business at a fragile time, it actually worsened the situation by reducing US imports and exports to nearly half. This overall this contributed to a longer and deeper depression.

The weekley averages of a doctor was $61.11 and now is $1800 ummm the weekely wages was $15.00 and now is $236

Grapes of Wrath is Steinbeck's famous novel about the Dust Bowl and the migration to California by an Okie family. It was made into a successful movie.

The characters care little about their living conditions and opportunities.

The Great Depression happened because of a failure to follow laissez-faire policies. First of all, the whole business cycle is caused by central banking, imposed by government, and other means by which the government interferes with interest rates and the supply of money and credit. In particular, in 1927, England tried to return to pre-WWI gold exchange rates instead of leaving prices where they were. This caused a loss of gold from England, which America's Federal Reserve tried to help prevent by lowering interest rates. This is what set off the speculative boom of the late 20's.

It is said that Hoover's policies after the crash were laissez-faire, but nothing could be further from the truth. As far back as the early 1920's, Hoover had written that the best way to deal with a recession is to institute public works projects. He did so, starting many public works, including the Hoover Dam. He increased government spending and taxes, encouraged the Fed to extend another $300 million to try to re-inflate the economy, and started poverty relief programs. Hoover's policies so closely resemble FDR's that some writers call it "Hoover's New Deal". The only difference between the policies of Hoover and FDR was the scale. FDR simply did more of what Hoover was already doing.

The worst hit to the economy from Hoover's policies was when he called business leaders from all over the country to Washington to "persuade" them to keep wages high. To do this, he used the threat of pro-union legislation, or promises to protect businesses from union legislation. Professor Lee Ohanian of UCLA has calculated that this policy accounts for over 2/3 of the unemployment of the early years of the Great Depression and prolonged it for 7 years.

The answer to the question is that laissez-faire had nothing to do with the Great Depression, except that maybe it would have been a good idea that was not used.

The stock market crash, structural weakness of the economy, overproduction, maldistribution of wealth and an international crisis contributed to the Great Depression in the United States. Hoover was interested in world peace and wanted to advocate cooperative individualism. He said "people should depend on charity and take care of each other, we'll all suffer but we'll make it through". He was against federal aid during the great depression. He was unprepared to deal with this crisis and tried to tell people that laughter was the best medicine. He lowered taxes and raised the tariff, as a result, international trade died out at this point. He encouraged volunteerism and businesses to tax cut and invest it in the economy. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation gave the government the ability to loan money to major failing banks and big businesses. This was a very limited measure though. It only bailed out certain people for certain reasons and this angered the people. During FDR's first 100 days he waged war against the economy by attacks the baking crisis. He created a bank holiday which would shut down the banks so people wouldn't withdraw all their $. He also created an emergency banking which would loan money to failing banks from the federal reserve so they don't go totally under. The Glass Steagall Act was another one of his attempts; this was a separation of investment and commercial banking. According to the people, capitalism was save in 8 days." He also created the Agricultural Adjustment Act which paid farmers to keep land fallow. The National Industrial Recovery Act was created to cure over production, boost prices, protect labor, end cut throat competition and created the National Recovery Administration which meant that big businesses should have set standards, codes and wages to eliminate cut throat competition. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration was also created as well as the Civilian Conservation Corp. This put young men to work in national parks to work in forests preservation. The Public Works Administration was created to build roads, hospitals, bridges etc. He also created the Tennessee Valley Authority which hired unemployed to build dams to prevent floods. Some of the most recognized populists were Father Coughlin, Upton Sinclair and Charles Townsend. Father Coughlin attacked Wall Street and capitalism. He wanted government ownership of industry and supported fascism. Huey Long , gov of LA, which was the closes thing to fascism that the US has ever seen. He had complete control over every branch in LA. He increased taxes on LA oil companies and takes that $ to build roads, schools, hospitals etc which provided jobs. He also wanted a guaranteed national income an free college. Sinclair ran for gov of CA and experienced the first negative campaign. He wanted to put the poor people to work on the fallow lands in CA. Townsend as the spokesperson for the elderly in CA. He liked the idea of old age pensions and social security which would stimulate the economy but no one liked it because it w s too expensive.The second new deal came about as a result of the populists. It created the Works Progress Administration which put the unemployed to work building post offices, county buildings, 500,000+ miles of road, 600 airports, stadiums, community swimming pools, sewage treatment plants, etc. It also included the Wagner Act which established the workers' rights to collective bargaining. It outlawed firings and blacklistings of union members. It also created the Social Security Act which gave unemployment insurance to disabled and elderly. He wanted the money to come from taxing the people. The Revenue Act of 1935 increased corporate taxes.

Eleanor worked for civil and equal rights but FDR never really touch the issue. Social Security was not extended to African Americans. Southern Democrats revolted if Roosevelt tried to help African Americans and they wouldn't pass his acts/laws if he did, as result his effort for helping them was low. The states were in charge of the CCC, WPA, etc. They didn't generally give those jobs to African Americans. The Federal Housing Act also discriminated against blacks and further segregates America. Fed Employment Practices were discriminatory and projects in the south refused to hire blacks.They were the last hired and the first fired. Although, FDR did appoint Mary McLeod Bethune to his cabinet. He encouraged hope for them.

The new deal was the great debate between R and D. The debate was to either extend the new deal or cut back on it. It shifted politics. Before the 1920's, the R were progressive and they slowly start becoming more conservative. The government expanded as well and it was the first time the government gets involved in the welfare of common people. FDR also increased the power of imperial presidency. The people that lived through the Great Depression said "We didn't go hungry but we lived lean." During the GD, unemployment reached 25% by 1933. 86,000 businesses failed between 1932-3. The national income in 1929 was 87.8 billion in 1933 it was 40.2 billion. Wages declined by 60%, 9 million savings accounts were wiped out, poverty became a way of life. People moved to the cities to find jobs but there were no jobs were left. The homeless built shanty-towns around cities and called them Hoovervilles in spite of Hoover's response to the Depression and people began to blame Hoover for the Depression.. People stood in the breadline from charity handouts. People started eating jackrabbits and called them Hooverhogs.

He thought the business cycle would correct itself.