Timeline Of The Great Depression

Out of the Woods / Obama's economic reforms: 'FDR light'

Many of President Obama's critics say he's doing too much too quickly in trying to get the economy moving again. They complain that his series of initiatives -- the multi-billion dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, the bank, housing, consumer-protection and other reforms -- came over from the White House to the Hill too quickly to digest and analyze.

I would maintain just the opposite. I think that Obama's economic recovery program can be characterized as "FDR light" -- steps in the right direction but not really big or bold enough. I agree with economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman that what the country needed in the first place was a much larger stimulus package.

How do I arrive at this conclusion? A little research proves my point. Namely, FDR's remarkable accomplishments during the Great Depression. I submit my case to support this viewpoint with the following history-making timeline:

-- March 4, 1933: FDR sworn in as president, assuring nation that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

-- March 9, 1933: Congress convened in special session and began the `First Hundred Days" that ran to June 16 and produced record number of bills.

-- March 9. 1933: FDR's Emergency Banking Relief Act gave discretionary powers to president over banking system

-- March 20, 1933: Economy Act. Budget-balancing measures enacted, including 15 percent reduction in federal salaries

-- March 31, 1933: FDR creates the Civilian Conservation Corps to provide work for 50,000 jobless young men working in parks and public lands

-- April 19, 1933: FDR took U.S. off the gold standard, lowering the value of the dollar abroad (to stimulate exports) and increasing prices at home.

--May 12, 1933: Agricultural Adjustment Act ( AAA ) established parity prices for farm products, along with incentives/subsidies to limit production; sought to provide farmers with greater borrowing capacity; subsidies to farmers passed on to consumers.

--June 13, 1933: Homeowners Refinancing Act passed for refinancing home mortgages and farm debts; eventually assisted in some 1 million mortgages Homeowners Refinancing Act passed for refinancing home mortgages and farm debts.

--June 16, 1933: Glass-Steagall Act, which created Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to secure bank deposits under $5000; separated functions of deposit and investment banks

--June 16, 1933: Passed the National Industrial Recovery Act ( NRA ), the signature piece of legislation of the First New Deal, which Roosevelt hoped would lift the industrial economy out of the Depression to create jobs for the unemployed.

Shoe Timeline and Twist: The 1930s |

The 1930s was the decade of The Great Depression. During the Roaring ’20s credit was widely available and people bought more goods. But good times came to a halt with the crash in the stock market in 1929, called “Black Thursday” on Wall Street. America sunk into The Great Depression, lasting from 1929 to 1939. During some of the worst times of the Depression, it has been estimated 1 in 4 Americans were unemployed. As for culture and fashion, movies were popular during the times to keep people’s mind off the economic slump. The amount of shoe styles, shockingly enough, were not hard hit.

According to headoverheelshistory.

The Great Depression, an international disaster of perverse economic policies

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