Myths of the Great Depression, part 1

[jlburnitt]

Also in the mid-1930's was Dust Bowl, which did negitively effect the economy but I don't think FDR can be blamed for that.

If it was FDR's fault, why was he so popular?

KBDI should really do some fact checking before they have a guest on.

Where is the counter view point?

This show is biased.

[Watcher4187]

FDR did make the depression worse. At a time when people were starving he ordered farmers to kill their animals and burn their crops to keep prices high because he thought low prices were the cause of the depression.

Basically, in a time where people could not afford to buy food he made it more expensive and this is just only on example of how he made the depression worse. There are others.

[jlburnitt]

The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) was created after more than six million pigs were slaughtered to stabilize prices. The pigs went to waste. The FSRC diverted agricultural commodities to relief organizations. Apples, beans, canned beef, flour and pork products were distributed through local relief channels. Cotton goods were later included, to clothe the needy. In 1935, the federal government formed a Drought Relief Service (DRS) to coordinate relief activities.

[jlburnitt]

cont'

The DRS bought cattle in counties which were designated emergency areas, for $14 to $20 a head. Animals unfit for human consumption - more than 50 percent at the beginning of the program - were destroyed. The remaining cattle were given to the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation (FSRC) to be used in food distribution to families nationwide. Although it was difficult for farmers to give up their herds, the cattle slaughter program helped many of them avoid bankruptcy.

[Watcher4187]

Yeah, those ideas were great. So great in fact that the Supreme Court declared the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) unconstitutional in early 1936 and declared that it was responsible for joblessness of at least two million people, especially sharecroppers and other farm laborers.

Notice how the great Depression lasted a decade but depressions before that quickly went away. That's because we didn't have FDRs around back then destroying the market.

[Houshalter]

@jlburnitt, for every program the government creates and everything they buy, all the money for that comes from taxes. When the government hires an employee over here, the economy looses at least one somewhere else. There is a reason the depression was prolonged a decade.

[TacticusPrime]

@Watcher4187  The farmers would have all gone out of business. Then they wouldn't have farms to produce food the next season, and fuck everyone. It was necessary.

[jlburnitt]

I do not agree with Larry Reed's comment regarding a "depression within a depression" in 1937 which was "the greatest depression in history" (4:55)

I have seen housing market data from that period which seems to say otherwise. My source is Yale economist Robert Shiller.

For my source search:

shiller housing chart

[waypasthadenough]

test

[waypasthadenough]

Good vid, and I'm sure these people know more about 'economics' than I ever will, but it will take more than jaw jacking by people in suits to fix this mess if it can be fixed.

It will take many expensive suits hanging along Pennsylvania Ave.

Don't understand? Follow my links. Read the quotes page first. Then share and prepare.

Think globally, fight locally. Aim small, miss small. One shot, one dead "Liberal"(communist/fascist).