Verified Document

John Snow Father Epidemiology Pioneering Research Paper

S. History, 2011). Only after aggressive government intervention did the Dust Bowl conditions improve. The government, even before the drought was broken in 1939, was able to reduce soil erosion by 65% through the actions of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which planted 200 million trees to "break the wind, hold water in the soil, and hold the soil itself in place" ("Disasters: The 1930s," U.S. History, 2011). Farmers received instruction by the government on "soil conservation and anti-erosion techniques, including crop rotation, strip farming, contour plowing, terracing and other beneficial farming practices" ("Disasters: The 1930s," U.S. History, 2011). For the first time, the government took an interest not simply in preserving some of its land from development in the form of national parks, but gave counsel to farmers how to use the land.

The gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots,' already wide even before the Great Depression, grew into a chasm in the years after the Great Crash. While few people were unaffected by the Depression, the poor suffered the most "Unemployment rose from a shocking 5 million in 1930 to an almost unbelievable 13 million by the end of 1932" ("Life during the Great Depression," All about History, 2011). Increasingly, there were calls for the Hoover Administration to treat the Depression's causes and provide some relief. The Hoover Administration's most vocal critic was that of John Maynard Keynes, a British economist who had advocated a radical reworking of conventional economic theory.

According to classical economic theory, as prices fall during a recession, or a natural trough in the business cycle, eventually demand will increase as prices decrease to such a level there is a tremendous incentive to buy goods and services. Producers expand production to meet the new surge in demand, hire more workers, and the business cycle once again surges upward into an expansionary period. Keynes, however, noted that when people are frightened of losing their jobs, they are not interested in spending more money, and instead save money. They hide money under the mattress -- literally, in the case of the Great Depression, given the catastrophic bank runs that depleted confidence in the national banking system immediately after the crash. "At the start of the Depression, the federal government did not guarantee bank deposits, so...

"I have a little steel box with a key and I was thinking about taking my checking account out and putting it in there," said one elderly woman, during the height of the recent financial crisis ("Great depression colors senior's view of crisis," MSNBC, 2008) ("Great depression colors senior's view of crisis," MSNBC, 2008).
During a depression, according to Keynes "people hoard money no matter how much the central bank tries to expand the money supply" by lowering interest rates to further encourage more investment and spending (Kangas 1997). Keynesian economic theory suggests that "government should do what the people [are] not: start spending. He called this 'priming the pump' of the economy," which the subsequent Roosevelt Administration attempted to do through massive public works projects (Kangas 1997). The New Deal and eventually World War II defense spending (accompanied by heightened government control over private industry, even beyond that was practiced during the 1930s) finally extricated the U.S. from the Depression.

References

"Disasters: The 1930s." U.S. History. February 20, 2011

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1583.html

"The Great Depression: What happened and how it compares with today." The Great

Depression. February 20, 2011.

http://www.thegreatdepressioncauses.com/then-and-now.html

"Great depression colors senior's view of crisis." MSNBC. 2008. February 20, 2011 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27202324/

"Life during the Great Depression." All about History. February 20, 2011

http://www.allabouthistory.org/life-during-the-great-depression.htm

Johnson, Paul. A History of the American people. New York: Harper, 1999.

Kangas, Steve. "Causes of the Great Depression." The Great Depression, 1997. February 20,

2011

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Causes.htm

Leonard, Jonathan Norton. Three Years Down, 1944. Excerpted at Eyewitness to History

February 20, 2011 at http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/crash.htm

Sources used in this document:
References

"Disasters: The 1930s." U.S. History. February 20, 2011

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1583.html

"The Great Depression: What happened and how it compares with today." The Great

Depression. February 20, 2011.
http://www.thegreatdepressioncauses.com/then-and-now.html
"Great depression colors senior's view of crisis." MSNBC. 2008. February 20, 2011 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27202324/
http://www.allabouthistory.org/life-during-the-great-depression.htm
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Causes.htm
February 20, 2011 at http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/crash.htm
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

John Snow Father Epidemiology Pioneering Research Analogy
Words: 1016 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

John Snow father epidemiology pioneering research analogy containment cholera outbreak London 1800's. However, contributor, William Farr, provided substantial information data understanding etiology spread cholera research surveillance John Snow is known as the founder of modern epidemiology. Summarize his works and findings, describing the premise on which his experiments were formulated. How did Snow explain that cholera's first symptoms were abdominal pains? How does his work demonstrate the scientific method? Snow first

Scientific Method John Snow, William
Words: 1458 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Paper

Snow, in contrast to Farr's epidemiology, was far more innovative and spontaneous in his methods, which also made his conclusions, in the eyes of his colleagues more suspect. As well as doing his own hands-on research, Snow analyzed the "natural experiment created when one water- supply company of London, the Lambeth Company -- but not the Southwark and Vauxhall Company -- moved its water inlet to a less polluted area

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now