Let’s hope!

Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Money, The Economy

For all of you who are worried about the economy, I have decided to review a little history of the US.

From 1890 and 1930 there were four major economic downturns. Of these downturns only one made the name of the “Great Depression!” It started shortly after the stock market crash of 1929 and lasted for more than ten years. Unemployment well into the downturn reached 30%. We are at 6.7% unemployment. This figure may not be calculated the same as in the 30s, but it is pretty easy to see that we don’t have one in three workers without a job.

Looking at the history between 1890 and 1940, what was the big difference between the earlier crashes and lasted about 3 years each and the “Great Depression?” By far and away the biggest difference was the United States government. They tried to fix the problem with the wrong solutions, convinced the public to stay the course, and created misery. The only way we finally got out of the quagmire was WWII. We shipped millions of men both East and West and increased manufacturing of weapons.

Let’s hope that our government entities at all levels refrain from repeating the past failures. WHO knows?

Tags: depression, history, inflation, unemployment

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