Eggplant,

Hope this string keeps going.

Germany was mired in Depression well before 1929. The Nazi policies were very Keynesian, in fact, Keynes himself considered the fascist economic model superior to the free market model. His practitioners today, from Republicans like Bush I and II to Democrats like Clinton and soon to be Pres. Obama, are really soft-core fascists. Thus, the surge towards state capitalism that we are currently witnessing.

The economic causes of WWII are: Germany’s desire to reverse the effects of Versailles and expand their sphere of influence; and Japan’s desire to solve it’s problem of limited natural resources and create an Asian sphere of influence. These objectives, which were vital national interests of both countries, brought them into conflict with what would become the Allies of WWII.

Roosevelt’s policies were ineffective. I guess that makes me a revisionist, if not a contrarian. Here are some stats to reflect on: US Unemployment in 1933 when Roosevelt was inaugurated was 24.9%. Six years later, at the edge of war, the rate was 17.2%. A year later with war mobilization moving forward the rate fell to 14.6%, and then dropped in 1941 to 9.9%. During our first year of involvement in the war, 1942, the rate was 4.2%. There is no clearer representation that Roosevelt’s New Deal policies had little effect on economic recovery, but that war mobilization, which eventually took 12 million working age men into the armed forces, was the key factor.