How much is too much? :: Essays Papers

How much(prenominal) is too much? The founders of our country were all successful individuals who believed in the rights of an individual to succeed or fail on his own. Their experience with the British brass convinced them that the less(prenominal) involvement by the government in economic affairs the better. These beliefs were central to the idea of liberal capitalism that in a capitalist society, in order for everyone to enjoy economic opportunity, it was necessary for the government not to intermeddle in the nations economy. As Americans we cling to a belief that if we just prune a little harder, that if we sacrifice a little today, then tomorrow we will reap the benefits of our labors. Of course, history tells us that when big business and excess interest groups dominate an economy by political influence, individual social movement whitethorn not always equate to equal opportunity. There may be times when government intervention is necessary - but how much intervention b y the government is necessary has always posed a problem. As American business became increasingly industrialized, living conditions for workers became worse and finally a consensus developed under the progressives, an umbrella term for different groups who proverb the application of efficient business practices as a way to reanimate societal problems. Key to this belief was the idea that scarce government had the recourses to litigate this. This steadily growing belief throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s would finally be put to the test 1929. After World War I, government non-intervention in the economy led to rampant speculation and borrowing. Many state borrowed money to invest in a stock market that only seemed to know how to go up. Unbeknownst to most Americans, bad economic decisions were being made by both businesses and the governments own economists. Decisions that would have terrible consequences on October 29, 1929, when the stock markets collapsed. Presiden t Herbert Hoover, a staunch believer in the swelled conservative principle of non-government interference refused to intervene. Like most business-oriented people of the time, he believed that economies went through cycles of expansion and recession. He felt that this period of recession should be allowed to take its course Norton 473). As the economy continued to worsen, Americans elected into big businessman a new President who offered to use the power of the government to do something about the economy. As the Progressives believed earlier, Franklin Roosevelt felt that only the federal government had the index to marshal resources on a national level to stimulate the economy.