Great Depression or Firefighting Strategies and Tactics

Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies

Author: Thomas E Hall

The Great Depression was the worst economic catastrophe in modern history. Not only did it cause massive worldwide unemployment, but it also led to the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany, World War II in Europe, and the tragic deaths of tens of millions of people. This book describes the sequence of policy errors committed by powerful, well-meaning people in several countries, which, in combination with the gold standard in place at the time, caused the disaster. In addition, it details attempts to reduce unemployment in the United States by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and in Germany by Hitler's National Socialist economic policies.

A comprehensive economic and historical explanation of the events pertaining to the Depression, this book begins by describing the economic setting in the major industrialized countries during the 1920s and the gold standard that linked theory economies together. It then discusses the triggering event that started the economic decline--the Federal Reserve's credit tightening in reaction to perceived overspeculation in the U.S. stock market. The policy bungling that transformed the recession into the Great Depression is detailed: Smoot Hawley, the Federal Reserve's disastrous adherence to the real bills doctrine, and Hoover's 1932 tax hike. This is followed by a detailed description of the New Deal's shortcomings in trying to end the Depression, along with a discussion of the National Socialist economic programs in Germany. Finally, the factors that ended the Depression are examined.

This book will appeal to economists, historians, and those interested in business conditions who would like to know more about the causes and consequencesof the Great Depression. It will be particularly useful as a supplementary text in economic history courses.

Thomas E. Hall and J. David Ferguson are both Professors of Economics, Miami University.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
	Great Depression Timeline
1	What Happened?	1
2	Payback Time?	17
3	The Gold Standard	31
4	International Considerations	43
5	The Start of the Great Depression, 1929-30	63
6	Sowing the Seeds of Disaster	75
7	1931: The Make-or-Break Year	91
8	More Bank Failures, 1932-33	103
9	Economic Recovery: The Early Years of the New Deal	113
10	Germany: Recovery, but at a Very High Cost	131
11	The Second New Deal and the 1937-38 Recession	141
12	It's Finally Over	153
13	A Summing Up; and Could It Happen Again?	161
	Notes	167
	Glossary	175
	Bibliography	181
	Index	189

See also: Forensics or Patterson for Alabama

Firefighting Strategies and Tactics

Author: James Angl

This comprehensive text is an ideal building block for aspiring fire officers and an essential review for experienced command officers. Incident command requires background knowledge and application skills in all phases of strategy and tactics—knowing what needs to be done as well as the how it is going to be accomplished. An important element of this book is the use of case studies based on actual incidents to show the applications of the theories to real world situations. The authors' myriad experiences in all phases of the operational fire service are included to detail the command operations from the company level to major alarms. The book uses a clear, systematic approach correlating with the course objectives of Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education enabling it to be used by all levels of fire fighters and fire officers.