The Great Depression and Great Recession have been known to be the greatest economic crises in the United States. The Great Depression (1929-1939) was a period of drastic economic decline, resulting in the failure of almost half the nation’s banks and the unemployment of several tens of millions of Americans. On the other hand, the Great Recession (2007-2009) was an economic decline, impacting financial markets and resulting in the loss of jobs and homes for millions of Americans. Although the magnitude of the Great Depression was greater by far, comparisons can be made between them. This can allow one to not only enhance their understanding of these catastrophic periods but also the extent to which they were similar. Comparisons can be drawn between the Great Depression and Great Recession in terms of their causes. In the short term, the …show more content…
The Presidents during the Great Depression and Great Recession, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Barack Obama, respectively, resorted to similar actions in order to combat the economic catastrophes. President Roosevelt brought about the New Deal which consisted of programs, economic reforms, and regulations, to alleviate the conditions of Americans. But, at the same time, it was implemented in order to increase the extent to the government’s power and influence. Steve Hanke, an applied economist at Johns Hopkins University, states that similarly, “this type of intrusive response has also followed the Great Recession, ushering in a plethora of government regulations, particularly those that affect banks and financial institutions” (Hanke). Implementing these regulations and reforms requires large spending, so another parallel drawn can be the respective increase in government spending. Therefore, the two periods are similar in terms of the government’s desire to increase its scope; the difference being the greater severity of the Great