Post on 23-Aug-2020
The Heritage Foundation
THE ECONOMY
More federal spending: New deal or raw deal?
Sources: Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Global Insight
History has a lesson for those who want to pump up government spending to “stimulate” the economy and create jobs: During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs never drove unemployment lower than 20 percent. The jobless rate actually climbed during the second phase. The onset of World War II, not government spending, prompted America’s economic recovery.
For updates on federal spending plans, visit heritage.organd click on Rapid Response.
Unemployment Rate for Non-Farm Workers, 1926-1947
0
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
’26 ’27 ’28 ’29 ’30 ’31 ’32 ’33 ’34 ’35 ’36 ’37 ’38 ’39 ’40 ’41 ’42 ’43 ’44 ’45 ’46 ’47
FDR’s first New Deal
Supreme Court declares muchof New Deal unconstitutional
World War II begins
U.S. creates “war economy”
New Deal, Part 2, begins
5.5% — Normal unemployment rate, 1970–2008
Stock market
crash
Stock market
crash
U.S. enters WWII
WWII ends