This is the question I want you to answer now, before we begin to discuss the Great Depression. I want to get a feel as to what you're political beliefs are on this topic before we discuss it, and I want to see some discussion amongst you and your classmates.
Tomorrow we will begin our discussion on the Great Depression. This is one of the most important eras in American history. The essential question that the Great Depression creates in America is "how should the government react when the country is in a time of economic crisis?"
This is the question I want you to answer now, before we begin to discuss the Great Depression. I want to get a feel as to what you're political beliefs are on this topic before we discuss it, and I want to see some discussion amongst you and your classmates.
6 Comments
Brandi Geisler
3/23/2011 09:24:57 pm
How should the government react when the country is in a time of economic crisis?
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Staci Stewart
3/23/2011 10:00:38 pm
The government is ultimately responsible for bailing the country out of any depression or recession that America is or was in. What the government should have done was take the tariffs off of other countries. Most of the European countries were in ruin and did not have the money to pay the tariffs on American goods so America did not benefit from this. Another reason America was in a depression was that only a small percentage of America people held the majority of the money. If the money had been spread equally among every American, most of them would not have been broke.
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Kelsey Nunn
3/23/2011 10:31:10 pm
I agree with Staci. It is the government's responsibility to manage the country's money and help us in time of need. Our economy after WWI was booming, but governmental actions caused it to take a spiral. The government should have been smart about the decisions they made, like placing higher tariffs, and money was spread unevenly amongst the American people. When people came to get their money out of the banks, the tellers should have known that it was a bad idea and they'd be losing all their money. Federal spending was way to high while banks started to fail. So much money was invested in the stock markets, and then it crashed, causing the government to lose millions. The government took little action when this happened, and the American people had to fend for themselves. Soon, jobs were hard to come by, and many people lost their jobs, forcing them to move from their homes. The building of the Hoover dam might not have been a good idea at this time period, due to the lack of money they already had, but it ended up working in the end. They invested a lot of money into the dam, but they also ended up saving money because of the energy it created. The Hoover dam was probably the only smart decision made by the government at this time. It gave thousands of people jobs from all across the country, and though it was costly, it created energy for the country. The government should become more involved in economic crisis' and use critical thinking and planning to better the chances of the American people thriving. The treasury and presidency stood by and waited to see if the depression would work itself out, but what America really needed was a government to regulate spending and help them out, and ultimately, save them from this critical time in history.
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mr_haynes
3/28/2011 02:59:54 am
All three of you bring up interesting points regarding the role of government. There seems to be a consensus amongst you, in time of need it is the government's job to help. Well for the sake of academia and argument, allow me to play devil's advocate.
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Brandi Geisler
3/28/2011 09:02:30 pm
Well, Mr. Haynes, people could still get paid for their new things that help society. For me, I feel that celebrities shouldn't be paid millions of dollars, when almost anyone can act. Society worries so much about a celebrities lifestyle, which isn't different from most people, except the fact that they get paid so much money for something anyone can try to do.
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mr_haynes
3/31/2011 12:10:48 am
Brandi,
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