Great Depression I Think it

¶ … Great Depression

I think it was fair for the U.S. taxpayers to support a war effort with their dollars by having President Hoover decide to forgive the loan for eighteen months. Hoping to avert a severe crisis, Hoover called for a limited moratorium on intergovernmental debt payments (American President: Herbert Clark Hoover 2). Hoover's foreign policies were conditioned by the Great Depression and by the fall of 1930, Hoover was blaming America's economic malaise on international, and especially European, economic realities. As a result, he looked increasingly for ways to improve the international economy as the Depression deepened. At the same time, Hoover pushed for disarmament treaties, and confronted Japanese aggression in China (American President: Herbert Clark Hoover 2). Hoover, who served on President Wilson's delegation to peace talks at the end of World War I (see American President: Herbert Clark Hoover 1) was not "pro war." Question 2: I think that point 2f most mirrors Europe's current situation. This is reflected in a 2010 paper of the European Commission titled "How the euro benefits us all" (1). It states under the Headline of Para 1 "What benefits has the euro brought?" (i.a.) the following factors: A stable currency; more integrated financial markets; a better performing economy and greater ease of International trade. Question 3: To stop the outflow of its gold reserves, Britain left the gold standard and devalued its currency in the fall of 1931. The gold standard, which linked nearly all the countries of the world in a network of fixed currency exchange rates, played a key role in transmitting the American downturn to other countries. The recovery from the Great Depression was spurred largely by the abandonment of the gold standard and the ensuing monetary expansion (Romer 1). While British goods became more competitive on the international market, the maneuver sparked a round of devaluations and accelerated a destructive trade war. (American President: Herbert Clark Hoover 1). Labor government was defeated in polls over "flight of gold. A new Conservative government was formed to deal with the crises (Economic Handout Point 8a: The Economic Picture of Europe: Britain). Question 4: Farmers struggled with low prices all through the 1920s. During World War I, farmers worked hard to produce record crops and livestock. When prices fell they tried to produce even more to pay their debts, taxes and living expenses (Morain 1). In the early 1930s prices dropped dramatically due to improved farming techniques and good harvest from 1925-1982 (see Economic Handout Point 10a on "Agriculture and Prices") many farmers went bankrupt and lost their farms with low prices, agriculture prices fell just as industrial and financial slump hit, loss of markets occurred due to tariffs and other restrictions, lack of funds to purchase equipment (see Economic Handout Point 10b, c, d). As pointed out in the Economic Handout Point 10e political and cultural crisis set in as farmers refused to harvest their crops, complaining about LOW Prices while industrial workers were starving and had little to eat. Prices would fall and farmers lose money when their techniques are more efficient because in that scenario there would be a surplus of agricultural products on the market that automatically causes a drop of prices. Where crops are rare, there is under surplus and prices will eventually rise. Where there is a fall of agricultural prices and a slump in industrial orders, industrialized nations and those supplying primary products (food and raw materials) are all affected in one way or another (About the Great Depression 2). Great Britain (Economic Handout Point 8b): Britain fortunes improved after leaving the gold standard. Under the Gold Standard, which linked currencies to the value of gold, governments were committed to maintaining fixed exchange rates. The British economy stopped declining soon after Britain's abandonment of the gold standard in September 1931, though genuine recovery did not begin until the end of 1932 (Romer 2). Great Britain (Economic Handout Point 8e i): Passing of the Housing Acts of 1936 and 1938. This bill provides funds for the clearing of slums to be replaced with new housing. The Housing Acts of 1936 and 1938 provided subsidies aimed at encouraging slum clearance, and maintained rent control (Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Arthur Neville Chamberlain: Domestic policy 2). Great Britain (Economic Handout Point 8e ii): Despite these innovations the British electorate for its appeasement of Hitler condemned this government. Arthur Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of Britain on 28th May, 1937. Over the next two years Chamberlain's Conservative government became associated with the foreign policy that later became known as "appeasement." Chamberlain believed that Germany had been badly treated by the Allies after it was defeated in World War I. He thought that by agreeing to some of the demands being made by Hitler, he could avoid a European war (Appeasement 1). As the policy of appeasement failed to prevent war, those who advocated it were quickly criticized. popular opinion was turning violently against the policy and almost everyone scrambled on to the anti-appeasement bandwagon. The appeasers now became objects of scorn (Dutton 2).