The 1929 Depression Which Lasted 16 years

Perhaps for the new year Americans should learn the history of the 1929 depression and why it happened. A Republican Herbert Hoover was president at the time. They doubled the income tax via the Revenue Act of 1932, they enacted the Smoot-Hawley act which destroyed international trade including affecting our agriculture industry. Then Roosevelt wins election and having decried Hoovers economic policies as socialist goes ahead to complete the damage to the United States. He passes the Industrial Recovery Act based on the theory that there is too much competition. The answer from Roosevelt was to stifle competition by cartelizing industries. The government tells industries what prices to charge across the board and across the economy. Is that a way to start a recovery?

The "Agricultural Adjustment Act" levied a new tax on agriculture that was already depressed and the government used the revenue to destroy healthy cattle, pigs and sheep and to plow under perfectly good land planted with wheat and corn. Under the triple A 6 million baby pigs were destroyed to supposedly raise the prices of pigs to help the farmer. All that did was raise the market price of pigs and hurt the people that had to eat. Roosevelt tried to raise the income tax to 98% and then changed his mind and raised it to 100%. It didn't pass but this is the real Roosevelt.

The Wagner Act bestowed vast new powers to labor and created the National Labor Board which made it easier for th labor to organize and strike. The # of strike days from 1936 to 1937 doubled from 14 million strike days in 1936 to 28 million in 1937. Labor costs soared during a severe depression.

In 1937 there was another collapse due to the Wagner Act.

Economic Liberty Lecture Series: Lawrence Reed from The Future of Freedom Foundation on Vimeo.