Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Root Cause Of The Great Depression

On the infamous Black Tuesday in 1929, the United States was plunged into a depression that only seemed to worsen as the years drew on. The prosperous and riveting years before were forgotten as the country struggled in economic disparity. The country faced high unemployment rates, devaluation of the dollar, and bank failures along with a general sense of hopelessness. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered the presidential office, he promised the people relief from the Great Depression, recovery from the major economic collapse, and reform to avoid similar situations in years to come. All of this was encompassed under his New Deal programs. In his first hundred days in office, FDR enacted dozens of bills and programs in hopes of lifting the people of the United States out of the Depression. However, these efforts proved futile, as the economic standing of the United States did not improve. Higher taxes, lack of wage increases, and lack of industrial production caused by the programs of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal helped plunge the United States into a deeper economic recession. President Roosevelt believed that some of the root causes of the Great Depression was the excessive competition; competing businesses lowered prices of their products which …show more content…
The period immediately following the repealing of the NIRA was filled with corruption; antitrust enforcement had become very lenient and businesses had become accustomed to price fixing. In one case, the Interior Department had reported that steel corporations had set the price for steel at fifty percent higher than that of other countries (Cole 785). Although while it was in practice, the National Industrial Recovery Act seemed to be benefitting the country, after it was ruled unconstitutional, corruption became rampant in the United