From 1929-1941, the United States economy crashed, causing inflation and many financial difficulties for most Americans. It impacted millions of Americans. The question is whether the Great Depression was caused by failure of the free market and then saved by government intervention. Myth or fact? I believe it is fact that by the government intervening in the economic problems, it saved Americans from the situation from getting any worse.
President Herbert Hoover, an advocate of "hands-off", or laissez-faire, economic policy, refused to use the power of the government and conditions worsened as a result. The job of saving the United Sates economy then rested on the shoulders of Hoover's successor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt used government intervention and steered the nation toward recovery.
The apparent lesson to be drawn is that capitalism cannot be trusted; government needs to take an active role in the economy to save us from inevitable decline. The government is the only thing that is constant in the economy; it constantly changes everyday and having something stable to regulate it is a very comforting thought to many Americans who do not want a repeat of the Great Depression.
