I wish the media would stop perpetuating the myth that FDR ended the Great Depression. It was government intervention in the economy that caused the Depression. It did so by mismanaging the money and credit supply. The Fed bloated the money supply and drove interest rates down, causing a recession (sound familiar?) To correct that, officials raised interest rates and shrank the money supply, all while the stock market was bouncing wildly and eventually crashed. To compound things, incredibly high tariffs were introduced, with the Smoot-Hawley Act raising prices so high that some industries shut down.

Thank you, Herbert Hoover.

Along comes FDR, whose plan was to spend billions of tax dollars to create jobs. That caused employment to rise temporarily; however, FDR’s regulations and job programs did nothing but hamper the economic recovery. Unemployment remained high during that entire time, dropping to a low of 14 percent. It wasn’t until after World War II ended that the economy started to thrive.

By the way, does any of that seem familiar? It certainly does.

Economic times today, though not as severe, are remarkably similar – with government once again being the culprit. This time, the government interfered with the housing market, inflating the price of houses. Government causes the problem, blames capitalism, and then rushes in to save the day.

Only the day is not saved; it’s just much more expensive.

Tim McClure, Lisbon Falls