Joe from Butler asks why I believe the Great Depression ended. As I have written before, I do not believe FDR's policies were effective; nor do I believe WWII ended the Depression. Some factors that played a role in the ending of the Great Depression were: production controls on many industries were lifted, wage and

price controls ended, income tax rates fell, federal spending dropped leading to budget surpluses, the Taft-Hartley Act was passed, theBretton Woods Agreement was implemented, and tariff rates were decreased (via GATT) substantially. Despite my arguments and facts, I do not believe my arguments will sway those that believe that government was the solution to the Great Depression because, fundamentally, this argument is not about political and economic history--it is about a view of the proper role of government. There are some that believe that government should be the instrument to redistribute wealth earned by one person to another person who has not earned it, there are some that believe that wealth is only accumulated at the expense of others, and there are some that believe everyone has a duty to serve the collective. When these viewpoints form the basis of one's philosophy, no historical fact will dissuade them from their belief.