1937 again  by Brian Hollander August 04, 2011 10:33 AM | 1 1
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Slowly, with great pain, the New Deal had been inching the
Depression, the one that began in 1929 with the stock market
crash that unregulated banks had wrought with their reckless
behavior, back into something manageable. The unemployment rate
had dropped, that’s right, dropped, back to 10 percent from the
unimaginable 25 percent it had been during the Depression’s
darkest days. The federal government had spent plenty of money
on jobs programs like the WPA, building hydroelectric dams and
stringing electricity to rural areas, and, in 1933, had
instituted the Glass-Steagall Act that separated banks from
insurance companies and investment houses, effectively
regulating them.  Those on the right grew restive. There was a
deficit, the dollar was weak, the fed had excess reserves. They
clamored for a balanced budget and less government involvement.
Under pressure, FDR was forced to give in.