I am alarmed by the parallels I see to the Great Depression in the Trump Administration. During Calvin Coolidge’s time in office from 1923-1929, trickle-down economics was enacted. The five root causes of the Depression are its most significant factors.
These were: 1) The 1929 stock market crash shortly after Herbert Hoover’s term began in that year. The market then doubled but by 1932 had hit rock bottom. 2) The banks began to fail; by 1933 more than 5,000 banks were out of business. 3) There was a reduction in purchasing power. 4) The Tariff Act of 1930 resulted in Europe’s retaliation by imposing tariffs on U.S. imports. 5) Environmental destruction, which included a year-long drought.
It took years for the country to recover financially, and while we have had economic downturns since then, none have matched the severity or duration of the Great Depression.
Once again, trickle-down economics has been enacted. Will it work? I doubt it. Prices will go up because the tariffs that have been imposed could reduce the purchasing power of families. Environmental destruction will occur again with the dismantling of the EPA and the loss of our partnership in the Paris Accord, as well as that term we are no longer supposed to use, climate change.
So far, the banks have not failed.
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Dulcie Berkman,Rochester
