Only two of the thirty recoveries since 1870 have been this lackluster: Franklin Roosevelt's and Barack Obama's. During the administrations of both men federal spending skyrocketed and economic paralysis set in.

  Roosevelt's New Deal brought about a "tectonic shift" that made government more involved in the economy. Roosevelt's barrage of new laws, tax increases, and regulations was unequaled until President Obma. -Charlotte Hays Go To Site

Even in the United States, government policies in the 1930s led to crops being plowed under, thousands of little pigs being slaughtered and buried, and milk being poured down sewers, at a time when many Americans were suffering from hunger and diseases caused by malnutrition. The Great Depression of the 1930s, in which millions of people were plunged into poverty in even the most prosperous nations, was needlessly prolonged by government policies now recognized in retrospect as foolish and irresponsible. Go To Site

It’s an explanation repeated so often it’s become rote: The rollback of financial regulations during George W. Bush’s presidency helped cause the devastating financial crisis of 2008. But researchers at the Washington-based Mercatus Center claim that the central premise of this interpretation is false. According to a new study by the free-market think tank, federal restrictions on the financial services sector actually increased 23 percent between 1999 and 2008. Go To Site

Liberal, Financial, Narrative, Regulation

After 12 attempts in 25 years, Congress finally repeals Glass-Steagall, rewarding financial companies for more than 20 years and $300 million worth of lobbying efforts. Supporters hail the change as the long-overdue demise of a Depression-era relic... On Oct. 22, Weill and John Reed issue a statement congratulating Congress and President Clinton, including 19 administration officials and lawmakers by name. The House and Senate approve a final version of the bill on Nov. 4, and Clinton signs it into law later that month.

Liberal, Tax, Narrative, Regulation

No friend of deregulation, Krugman nonetheless admitted that Democratic administrations, no less than their Republican counterparts, had made it a matter of policy -- and moreover that the policy had its successes. Thus he noted that the “extensive deregulation of the oil, airline and trucking industry began under Jimmy Carter,” and that “most economists count these deregulations as a success.”