An Important Brief Synopsis Regarding » Labor And Employment Law Journals In Addition To Comparable Studies
Did FDR's policy really prolong the Great Depression by 7 years, as leading UCLA economists now believe?
In an article in the August issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Ohanian and Cole blame specific anti-competition and pro-labor measures that Roosevelt promoted and signed into law June 16, 1933.
"President Roosevelt believed that excessive competition was responsible for the Depression by reducing prices and wages, and by extension reducing employment and demand for goods and services," said Cole, also a UCLA professor of economics. "So he came up with a recovery package that would be unimaginable today, allowing businesses in every industry to collude without the threat of antitrust prosecution and workers to demand salaries about 25 percent above where they ought to have been, given market forces. The economy was poised for a beautiful recovery, but that recovery was stalled by these misguided policies."
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx?RelNum=5409
Interesting article, and baffling that it came out of UCLA!!
Yes, it's the perfect example of a far-left liberal not believing in the free market. When the free market has been left to regulate itself things have gone peachy. It's only when the government decides "it knows better" and interferes that things really go to pot.
Take our current situation: Banks didn't want to give loans to people who obviously couldn't afford them. The government butts in and says, "but you HAVE to give loans to the poor and working class! And if you don't we'll fine you BIG time!" Hence, the Community Reinvestment Act and other government mandates to give loans to unqualified applicants.
What happens? Just like the banks predicted, those who couldn't afford loans defaulted and the banks were left holding unsellable vacant properties, which they then turned over to Fannie and Freddy Mac. Bingo! You now have a horrible housing crisis that can be traced back to government interference in the markets.
"Government isn't the solution to our problems, it IS the problem" - Ronald Reagan
Hofstra Law: Bram Weber '00 -- On Law Journals and the Academic Experience
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May 16th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Lawyer suing for 'breached' protection named http://bit.ly/cmRAGf