That the reason the depression lasted so long was due to Herbert Hoover's unwillingness to to do anything to end it...
From the commentary on CNN by Ron Paul...I am guessing they have not...either that or during High School History, they were out behind the school gym smokin' some pretty good stuff...
Jump below the fold with me...
Ever since the 1930s, the federal government has involved itself deeply in housing policy and developed numerous programs to encourage homebuilding and homeownership.
Uhm, ok, if you say so Rep. Paul...however, history disagrees with you...those programs helped more Americans buy homes...and to say that these programs are the reason the depression lastd so long is ludicris. Hoover did nothing...Roosevelt did not even get into office until 1933...four years after the stock market crash...I guess we don't need the FDIC, SEC or Social Security though...
Laws passed by Congress such as the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to make loans to previously underserved segments of their communities, thus forcing banks to lend to people who normally would be rejected as bad credit risks.
Really Rep. Paul...you might want to check your facts on this...it was the repeal of portions of the Glass-Stegall act in 1999 that caused the rash of bad home loans...not the CRA.
This lowering of prices brings the economy back into balance, equalizing supply and demand. This economic adjustment means, however that there are some winners -- in this case, those who can again find affordable housing without the need for creative mortgage products, and some losers -- builders and other sectors connected to real estate that suffer setbacks.
The government doesn't like this, however, and undertakes measures to keep prices artificially inflated. This was why the Great Depression was as long and drawn out in this country as it was.
The solution to the problem is to end government meddling in the market. Government intervention leads to distortions in the market, and government reacts to each distortion by enacting new laws and regulations, which create their own distortions, and so on ad infinitum.
The government must divorce itself of the albatross of Fannie and Freddie, balance and drastically decrease the size of the federal budget, and reduce onerous regulations on banks and credit unions that lead to structural rigidity in the financial sector.
Until the big-government apologists realize the error of their ways, and until vocal free-market advocates act in a manner which buttresses their rhetoric, I am afraid we are headed for a rough ride.
Rep. Paul, I don't even know where to start on your above statements...other than to tell you that you and your free market Ayn Rand followers are wrong...the lack of regulation and the lack of oversight is what has caused this mess that my eight year old son is going to have to pay for...Have you and your Republican friends never heard the adage, "never hire a fox to guard the hen house"...well, Rep. Paul that is what has happened, and that is what you are advocating...the financial sector has proven, not once, not twice, but several times...that they cannot be trusted...I for one, am tired of the fox guarding the hen house...yes, we do need to bail out the financial sector in order to avert a second great depression, however, this bailout comes with strings attached...more regulation, more oversight and limits on just how much money one person can make as a CEO...and while we are at it...the rich...you know, the ones that made millions and billions off the backs of the American worker...well...they need to pay up...they caused this, they fix it by being taxed 90%...no loopholes, no way out of it...they pay.
Next time, Rep. Paul, read the memo and check a history text before you shoot off your mouth.
Update...Almost forgot to link the CNN Article Commentary: Bailouts will lead to rough economic ride