Posted on 09/21/2012 11:07:40 AM PDT by SE Mom
We all have heard about the 1929 depression, the one that lasted for over 12 years, but not too much is known about the depression we had in 1920, which lasted from January of 1920 to July of 1921. There are many that say it started as severe, or more severe than the depression of 1929. So why did the depression of 1920 last for 18 months, while the depression of 1929 lasted for over 12 years? Well, for one thing we had a Republican President that believed in the free market system, his name was Warren Harding..
...President Harding did little in the way of Government interference, he did it by cutting Government and expanding the tax base. He immediately put together a committee which consisted of members of industry, banking and labor to come up with a solution. They came up with a plan, which was supported by the Republican Party and conservatives and generally opposed by the Democratic Party and liberal progressives
...At the start of the depression of 1929, we had a Republican President by the name of Herbert Hoover, but he turned his back on his party and free market principles and started Government interference, like quantitative easing and public works projects
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativedailynews.com ...
So much to learn if we pay attention to the past.
I admit to not know about this little hiccup in our history.
There was ALMOST a depression in 1920. However Warren Harding did nothing to “help” the economy. No stimulus, no huge FDR like government programs like the new deal — NOTHING.
Result, after Calvin Coolidge took over -— THE ROARING 20’s that lasted for 8 years.
It is one of those things you do not remember because it is not hammered into you, like the 1929 one. I do remember reading about it when I read TRUMAN back in the 90’s. But it was quickly mentioned and dealt away with. It was mentioned to explain away Trumans failure as a haberdasher. I also have a vague memory of it from years ago. However, it did come back a couple years ago when I heard Glenn Beck talk about it.
I’d agree that the financial management and misleadership from the highest levels are certainly extant in the buildup to the coming conflagration, but I would argue that circumstances are sorely different now.
The difference between now and then is that OUR current crop of leeches is far, far larger than anything the 1920s could even imagine. Further, they are armed with EBT cards and WICs certificates that will let them prolong it to the very last second in the runup and completion of this disaster.
Things in the 1920s went rather slowly compared the scale of today’s leech’s ability to devolve us into disaster. The financial insolvency is patently there already; realization has not hit full tilt yet. When this happens - when the first EBT brood mare can’t get her HoHo’s or Cheeze Doodles with her card is when the shit starts hitting the fan. Watch for it in a locale near you.
Be still, my heart!
Oh, for men with the sense and resolve to do N O T H I N G!
Wikipedia, on Calvin Coolidge’s economic policy through most of the “Roaring ‘20’s”:
‘Coolidge’s taxation policy was that of his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon: taxes should be lower and fewer people should have to pay them. Congress agreed, and the taxes were reduced in Coolidge’s term. In addition to these tax cuts, Coolidge proposed reductions in federal expenditures and retiring some of the federal debt. Coolidge’s ideas were shared by the Republicans in Congress, and in 1924 Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1924, which reduced income tax rates and eliminated all income taxation for some two million people. They reduced taxes again by passing the Revenue Acts of 1926 and 1928, all the while continuing to keep spending down so as to reduce the overall federal debt. By 1927, only the richest 2% of taxpayers paid any federal income tax. Although federal spending remained flat during Coolidge’s administration, allowing one-fourth of the federal debt to be retired, state and local governments saw considerable growth, surpassing the federal budget in 1927.”
(reference citations removed for clarity)
I'm thinking it probably was the Versailles Treaty which penalized Germany in a draconian way effectively removing her ability to contribute to world productivity.
The story i tell is
in 1920 there was a monetary collapse and an economic catastrophe, the government did nothing and everything was fine in 7 months
(Actually unemployment was 11% in 21,6% in 22, and 2 % in 23)
In 1929, there was a monetary collapse and an economic catastrophe, the government did 3000 things and in 17 years ( not 12)
everything was fine.
Yea, but was Mellon as 'smart' as Turbo Tax Timmy? I didn't think so.
TTT was 'smart' enough to cheat on his taxes, get caught, and still remain Treasury Secretary of the United States!
Not to mention raising the National Debt by $5,700,000,000,000.
How do dey do dat?
Thanks for the reminder. Dad and I discussed this years ago and IIRC Beck also did a program about it.
Because the government kept their nose out of it it lasted only a year!!!
Obamas meddling has put into a 10 plus year depression!
It’s past time to cut off the leaches!!!
Either pay your own way in this world or lie down in the street and die!!!
Yea, welcome to Glenn Beck 4 years ago.
Hoover was born in a small town just a few miles from my birth/home city. Hoover graduated from a university across the bay from the the university I graduated from. Hoover was supposedly a Republican apart from democrats but his world mindset belied true conservatism. I was a democrat until Reagan came on the political scene. I was of the 1920 generation that went through the great depression and WWII and I’m proud to be among the ‘greatest generation’. Times were rough in the 1930s. I remember my mother, an immigrant, trying to make ends meet for two boys after their father died. I was born after my father died. Mom would come home after a day at the factory doing piecework that paid her $2-$4 per day and crying about how the union thugs were bullying her to be on the picket line instead of getting the few dollars for powdered milk and/or 3 day old bread. I have ever since stayed away from union membership when ever possible, only once in my life to make some summer money for college tuition before the draft got me. .
So what caused the depression of 1920?
I’m thinking it probably was the Versailles Treaty which penalized Germany in a draconian way effectively removing her ability to contribute to world productivity.
Yes it had a lot to do with it...not totally...but a lot
Germany and USSR (Russia) were also going thru major famines...the US contributed a lot of food aid then
Not only the USSR went Communist...there were a number of Communist/Socialist uprisings around Europe right after WW I....which affected recovery
Also...the US still was going thru the post-war change from a military-production to a civilian-production economy. And, you had millions of men returning home from WW I without immediate employment.
Time, not government, mended the economy in the US
Thanks for the ping. Amity Shaeles wrote a book a couple of years ago called ‘The Forgotten Man’ that you might really like. Here is a very good article about the book though from Reason website if u don’t have time to read an entire book. She mostly talks about how FDR prolonged the great depression with progressive policies but goes into how the 20’s depression was averted. I highly recommend both the book and this article.
http://reason.com/archives/2007/12/18/remembering-the-forgotten-man
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.