For three and a half years following the start of the Great Depression, US President Herbert Hoover’s top priority was to balance the budget, trying – but ultimately failing – to restore business confidence. In 1933, newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed course, adopting a simple yet radical strategy: try everything that might boost demand, increase production, or reduce unemployment – and then keep doing the things that work.
大萧条开始三年半时间内，美国总统赫伯特·胡佛的首要任务是平衡预算，并竭力恢复企业信心（但他的努力最终没有成功）。1933年，新当选的美国总统富兰克林·罗斯福改变了路线，采取一种简单而激进的策略：尽一切可能刺激需求、增加产量或降低失业率——之后继续重复行之有效的方法。