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Re: GOVERNMENT INTERFERED VERY LITTLE AT ONE TIME

Wiki has an interesting section in its article on Herbert Hoover:

Economy

To pay for these and other government programs and to make up for revenue lost due to the Depression, Hoover agreed to roll back previous tax cuts his Administration had effected on upper incomes. In one of the largest tax increases in American history, the Revenue Act of 1932 raised income tax on the highest incomes from 25% to 63%. The estate tax was doubled and corporate taxes were raised by almost 15%. Also, a "check tax" was included that placed a 2-cent tax (over 30 cents in today's dollars) on all bank checks. Economists William D. Lastrapes and George Selgin,^[47] conclude that the check tax was "an important contributing factor to that period's severe monetary contraction." Hoover also encouraged Congress to investigate the New York Stock Exchange, and this pressure resulted in various reforms.

National debt expressed as a fraction of gross national product climbs from 20% to 40% under Hoover; levels off under FDR; soars during World War II. From Historical Statistics US (1976)

For this reason, years later libertarians argued that Hoover's economics were statist. Franklin D. Roosevelt blasted the Republican incumbent for spending and taxing too much, increasing national debt, raising tariffs and blocking trade, as well as placing millions on the dole of the government. Roosevelt attacked Hoover for "reckless and extravagant" spending, of thinking "that we ought to center control of everything in Washington as rapidly as possible," and of leading "the greatest spending administration in peacetime in all of history."^[48] Roosevelt's running mate, John Nance Garner, accused the Republican of "leading the country down the path of socialism".^[49]

Ironically, these policies pale beside the more drastic steps taken under Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration later as part of the New Deal. Hoover's opponents charge that his policies came too little, and too late, and did not work. Even as he asked Congress for legislation, he reiterated his view that while people must not suffer from hunger and cold, caring for them must be primarily a local and voluntary responsibility.

Even so, New Dealer Rexford Tugwell^[50] later remarked that although no one would say so at the time, "practically the whole New Deal was extrapolated from programs that Hoover started."

posted by cpklapper on April 12, 2010 at 12:49 PM | link to this | reply

again 70% increase in unemployment under Bush and 30% under Obama

posted by Xeno-x on April 12, 2010 at 11:50 AM | link to this | reply

GOVERNMENT INTERFERED VERY LITTLE AT ONE TIME

That was in the 1920's.

We had the Great Depression as a result.

I could go on and on about how great it was in the latter part of the 19th Century with little or no government interference in private business affairs.