Question

What were some of the different ways that Americans tried to cope with economic hardships during the Great Depression?

Answer 1

Presidents Hoover, who was in office when the financial crash took place in 1929, was an advocate of laisez-faire economic measures, that consisted on free functioning of the markets with minimum goverment interventionism. He supported that markets alone, would produce the most efficent outcomes. Therefore he simply introduced austherity measures that would save costs (for example, reduce public expending) to limit public debt. His policies were characterized by the minium goverment intervnetionism.

Subsequently, the package of measures known as the New Deal, based on Keynesian economics and goverment interventionism, was implemented by President Roosevelt along the 1930s decade. The New Deal aimed to create job positions for the large unemployed sectors of the US population, by increasing public expenditure (one of the variables of the fiscal policy) and by investing the funds in public works. This would create job positions and hence, improve employment figures and boost demand levels, creating a trend towards economic recovery.