is it true that FDR's socialist programs extended the Great Depression by 10 years?

[Yug Ihc]

and prevented the free markets from correcting it self thus creating misery for millions?

[wittySamurai745]

No. What was the alternative? Drastic times call for drastic measures. Roosevelt's programs employed millions.

[dlk]

Actually YES, this is a proven fact. The main reason why we came out of the Depression was WWII

[Shane]

That's a theory, which may or may not be true. I don't think that you can prove that, as you can't go back in time and try another way to end the great depression. I believe that our entry into WW2 got the US economy out of the doldrums.

[Poohcat1]

It may have extended the time it took for the economy to right itself but it was necessary never the less. Providing jobs for people was a necessity. It accomplished keeping people's spirits up by allowing them to support their families and it also helped get a lot of work done in the country that would otherwise not have been done.

[prancinglion]

Some agree with you, and I'm one of them. 10 years...? I'm not ready to be so exacting with an estimate, but the free market, and NOT Government Controlled life is what made America great.

[Warren T]

MOST EXPERTS TODAY AGREE THAT WHAT FDR DID ACTUALLY MADE THE GREAT DEPRESSION WORSE AND LAST LONGER. THERE HAD BEEN OTHER ECONOMIC CRISIS PRIOR TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION BUT MOST PEOPLE DON'T REMEMBER THEM BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IN SOME CASES THEY WERE ACTUALLY WORSE THAN THE GREAT DEPRESSION THEY DID NOT LAST THAT LONG. IT IS THE LENGTH OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS THAT DOES THE REAL DAMAGE.

[realst1]

No. That is a lie put forth by desperate right wingers who want people to believe that markets and unregulated capitalism works for the common good and not just for the greedy. Do yourself a favor and turn off the Faux Noise Network. FDR was the greatest president in the history of the USA because he brought the country out of economic and spiritual depression and made it a great and prosperous nation.

FDR's social programs put millions to work. People were starving in the streets and Hoover had ignored it. FDR made sure they were fed. FDR instituted work programs and camps that built roads, bridges, dams, schools and parks. Many of which are still in use. Roosevelt electrified the rural South, and helped bring many into the 20th century.

If it wasn't for FDR and his economic programs which healed the economy and the spirit of the American people, we would be speaking German or Japanese, because we wouldn't have been able to respond to the Japanese attack or the German declaration of war with the speed and ingenuity FDR used. His infrastructure and citizen armies were already trained and were able to switch to military production immediately.

Finally, how does a war get you out of a depression? If it did, why are we in the mess we are in since we have wars on two fronts? Obviously you don't understand the basic guns vs butter economic theories. Building a bomb and building a bridge are not equal. The bomb does not provide any future benefits after it explodes. The bridge can be used for decades. People who are repeating this garbage propaganda need to grow up and think for themselves.

[viablerenewables]

Hopefully this time if work programs are done they will be items that create value. To do make work programs creates no usable items doesn't create wealth for the future. His make work programs didn't improve self-esteem.

[crunch]

More like 7 years.


As found by a study of FDR's policies done by economists at UCLA who published their findings.

A brief synopsis of their findings is here:

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR...elNum=5409



The last line of the article reads:
"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said. "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."