Comments by "Winston Smith" (@kryts27) on "Hard Times - The Great Depression." video.

  1. I thought World War 2 brought the US out of the depression, but this is not correct. In the US economy by 1939, consumption had recovered to (more or less) pre-depression levels. Unlike in Europe, government taxation had not yet gone heavily into armament production, although expensive capital ships (like carriers) had been built. Nevertheless, full wartime funding had not ramped up by the US government until 1940 (it was substantially engaged in war by 1942, but the numbers of planes, ships and tanks and full-strength front line manpower were still behind the Axis powers at that point). World War 2 was a setback for global economic growth, like the Great Depression. Spending for war is not productive, because world trade is interrupted by economic blockades and shipping destruction (so you need to spend more money on escort ships and aircraft to prevent this). The civilian economy atrophies as well as more workers are drafted into wartime production; workers have more money but little to spend it on, particularly when food and fuel rationing was applied. This happened substantially in the US (except rationing) as well as British Empire in WW2. Additionally, substantial housing shortages occurred in countries that were not bombed at the end of WW2 (bombing destroys houses). This is because the civilian economy builds housing, which was atrophied and still the population increased where total war had not decimated it (such as in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia). The Great Depression was a substantial economic shock, but Japan (and now China) are in a generational depression, not a short-term one like the Great Depression. In the 1930s, the US had fully industrialized and had a growing population (more importantly) from natural higher birth (than death) rates and still some immigration, so the Depression only ever was going to last a few years until consumption caught up again. Neither Japan nor China are emmigration countries, and although industrialized, they now are now both lacking industrial manpower because of population decline and aging. Old people consume less. This is affected Europe as well (particularly Eastern Europe), but immigration has kept the level of decline down for Westerm Europe compared to Japan and China.
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  3. FDR, although far from perfect, was a leader that provided both stability and reassurance, something sorely lacking in American political leaders these days. When you listen to his speeches (and he was very aware of growing power of mass-media, particularly radio) he was policy active; "we will provide this or that", he was seldom scoring points off the leaders of opposition party. An over-worked process these days. Although Roosevelt (FDR) was from the upper class, he felt responsible for ths nation and it's people and this resonated with ordinary working Anericans at that time.
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