Long Depression
Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, author of "A Monetary History of the United States", on the other hand, blamed this prolonged economic crisis on the imposition of a new gold standard, part of which he referred to by its traditional name, The Crime of 1873. This forced shift into a currency whose supply was limited by nature, unable to expand with demand, caused a series of economic and monetary contractions that plagued the entire period of the Long Depression. Murray Rothbard, in his book "History of Money and Banking of the United States", argues that the long depression was only a misunderstood recession since real wages and production were actually increasing throughout the period. Like Friedman, he attributes falling prices to the resumption of a deflationary gold standard in the U.S. after the Civil War.
National Youth Administration
As the Great Depression continued to grip the American economy and inhibit the harnessing of American potential, unemployment and poverty spiraled to record highs. These debilitating years saw youth unemployment rise to 30% and the younger cohorts of the United States increasingly faced the devastation of not being able to afford education. Serving as the main catalyst for change and accelerator for government intervention, Eleanor Roosevelt advocated government involvement. In 1934 she notably declared that she frequently experienced "moments of real terror when [she thought] we might be losing this generation".
Halfway through the depression, Roosevelt had mixed opinions on the NYA and started leaning towards Congress to shut it down. "Its time we start thinking about the economy with war debt and the rise of liberals we must act now, as president I make the decision to give the NYA to congress to make sense of."