Who Remembers

[Lefty]

About a yr ago, give or take, I did a Google Search and found that a man high up in FDR's admin said their spending extended the depression 7 yrs. I can't remember his name nor can I now find it in Google. I have a liberal I debate with practically calling me a liar. I can't find the thread I started on PA either; guess my search abilities leave something to be desired. So, if somebody remembers the name or has the link, please help. I hate for liberals to call me a liar and the guy is just too old for me to punch out, so I need to rub his nose in the info.
Thanks in advance.

[delayjf]

Here you go, stick it in his eye. I don't know if he claimed 7 years, that was the number put forth by a recent study done by two economist at UCLA - the link is below. By the way, how are you doing?

Even FDR Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau admitted the New Deal had failed. “We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work,” he declared in 1939. “We have never made good on our promises...I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started...And an enormous debt to boot!”

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx

[Lefty]

Delay, thanks. I actually found this one and sent it to him but not good enough. He says I'm malking up the fact that one of FDR's top guys actually said this. I need to get that link with the quotes and link of the actual guy.
Thanks though.
I'm doing fine, just got through getting another web site up.
Thanks for asking. I hope you're doing well also.

[Overlay]

About a yr ago, give or take, I did a Google Search and found that a man high up in FDR's admin said their spending extended the depression 7 yrs.

World War II was what finally brought the U.S. out of the Depression. Hoover's failure was one of image, public relations, and political skill in not giving the people the impression that his administration was doing something about the situation. The activism of Roosevelt's New Deal in expanding government size and spending bought time for FDR's administration in the eyes of voters, even if it did not alleviate (and even lengthened) the Depression's effects.

[mostpost]

Morgenthau did not say that. He wrote it in his diary. The thing is he was wrong. Unemployment in 1939 not only was not as bad as it was in 1933. it was much lower.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_Unemployment_rate_of_the_1930's_in_the _United_States
1933 24.9%

1934 21.7%

1935 20.1%

1936 16.9%

1937 14.3%

1938 19.0%

1939 17.2%
http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=1&ViewSeries=NO&Java=no&Request3Place=N&3Place=N&FromView=YES&Freq=Year&FirstYear=1933&LastYear=1939&3Place=N&Update=Update&JavaBox=no
GDP was also improved:
1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
-1.3 10.9 8.9 13.0 5.1 -3.4 8.1
Those are percentages above.

Those figures would have been even better except for the recession of 1937-38. That recession occured because Roosevelt's advisors, especially Morgenthau, convinced him he needed to rein in spending and balance the budget.
From 1933 through 1937, when we were spending money, the economy improved. In 1938 when we stopped spending and programs like WPA were suspended or ended, we fell into a recession. After 1938 when we begn gearing up for WWII, the economy once again took off.

Henry Morgenthau was a believer in balanced budgets who reluctantly supported deficit spending. His statement must be viewed in light of that belief.

Hope Lefty's friend reads this forum.

[delayjf]

After 1938 when we begn gearing up for WWII, the economy once again took off.

Kind of makes one wonder why the left is so against military spending.

Thanks for asking. I hope you're doing well also.

My flags at half mast over the BC Classic.

[bigmack]

Morgenthau did not say that. He wrote it in his diary.
Man, are you incorrigible.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/hunkoburninlove/11_7_10_13_38_44.png

[boxcar]

Mosty and 'cap -- two peas in a pod if there were ever any! They just can't come to grips with reality, so they create their own little alternate universe in which to spin their webs.

Boxcar

[mostpost]

Man, are you incorrigible.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/hunkoburninlove/11_7_10_13_38_44.png
Wikipedia says the statement came from his diary, you say it's testimony before a House Committee. I'll take your word for it. Either way he's wrong.
I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started.
Perhaps you can convince me that 17.2 is as much as 24.9. (Good luck with that :rolleyes: ) In 1939 the number of people out of work was 2/3 of what it was in 1933. Furthermore, it was as low as 14.3% in 1937. That's when Roosevelt, on the advice of Morgenthau, scaled back the recovery effort and tried to balance the budget. Result: Recession.
Here's a clue. Throw away all your Milton Friedmann books. Go to the store and buy all the John Keynes books you can find.

[Lefty]

Mosty, thanks, you have been most helpful. I thought it was Morgenthau but wasn't sure.

[HUSKER55]

I HAVE NEVER UNDERSTOOD HOW ANY GOVERNMENT OR A BUSINESS OR A PERSON CAN SPEND THEMSELVES RICH WITHOUT DEBT.

SOMEBODY HAS TO PAY THE FIDDLER.

[Robert Goren]

For the record the US did not enter the war in 1939 like you and your numbers suggest. It entered at the very end of 1941. If you want to make a point the failure or lack of failure of the New Deal, then you should include numbers for 1940 and 1941. You can say that building up (and sending arms to England)for WWII helped those numbers, but it was huge government spending none the less. And further more, WWII was all about government spending economically.

[wes]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II


This will give you a good account of what took place during WWII.


wes