The 1930's Fiscal Cliff

tekewin said:

 

If I recall, the recession in 1937 was caused by Congress addressing their version of the fiscal cliff and trying to reign in government spending. Keynesians like Krugman point to that as evidence that we can't reign in spending right now. What he doesn't go on to say is that the US financial problems were not solved until WW2 purged the world of excess people and productive capacity. The world apparently has never figured out another way to solve this kind of problem.

 

I certainly agree that the Second World War gave cause for sustained large government spending (while demolishing economies to rebuild), but I must say this is the first time I have heard about the 1930s fiscal cliff. So let's take a look at the data.  Let's start with depression era government spending and deficit.

Federal outlays (blue) and deficit (red).  A large contraction in government spending and the deficit from 1936 to 1937 leads right into the recession.

Let's now look at unemployment with the added supplement of a help-wanted ads in newspapers index.

Unemployment (blue and green) and help wanted ads (red).

Unemployment was certainly affected by the recession, and I also see an earlier change in unemployment in 1934 when government spending and the deficit contracted.  As for the government spending that ended the depression it was also marked by a recession in 1945 in which factory workers (mainly female) were laid-off once the war ended.  And that wasn't exactly the end.

Unprecedented government spending (blue) and deficits (red).

To put the post-WWII lay-off into perspective, here is 74 years of employment change per month, though it is missing most depression era data.

Courtesy of the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and subsequently conditionally formatted (heat mapped) by month and annual change.