Question

What was the effect of President Roosevelt's attempt to balance the federal budget?

Answer 1

Answer:

The effect of President Roosevelt's attempt to balance the federal budget was the economic recession of 1937.

Explanation:

In 1937, the government of the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt considered that, after 4 years of effort, the government should reduce its fiscal deficit and balance its accounts in order to avoid a progressive emptying of the public coffers. Roosevelt, who had won in the 1933 elections and had imposed the New Deal, greatly increasing public spending in line with Keynesian theory, decided it was time for the government to start pulling out of the economy. Thus, he decided to cut expenses (closing New Deal programs) and raise taxes, in order to balance the fiscal deficit.

The problem was that, as a consequence of the Great Depression and the correct application of the New Deal, the American economy was too weak not to have the support of the federal state. In other words, the American economy depended heavily on New Deal programs, and it had a degree of fiscal effort that was too great to raise taxes. Thus, with the taking of these measures, the American economy began to fall, entering in a recession.