Monday, December 30, 2013

Bennett vs. King

As King loses the 1930 election and Canada moves into a conservative administration under RB Bennett, we see a key transition in policy towards coping with the depression.  How might this change compare to the one the United States experienced in 1932 when they replaced Hoover with FDR?  How did Bennett's policies differ from King's?  How effective were his early measures?

5 comments:

  1. The move to a conservative administration under RB Bennett is compared to the one the United States experienced in 1932 when they replaced Hoover with FDR because like Bennett, FDR was for the government getting involved while Hoover and king took a laissez-faire approach. Bennett’s policy’s were, “traditional and based on relief an higher tariffs.” King on the other hand believed, “in balancing the budget and a limited government role.” RB Bennett’s early efforts were somewhat misplaced because, “high tariffs may have stabilized Canadian prices by excluding foreign competition, but they meant that those on relief could afford to buy even less because the high price of imports maintained domestic prices.”

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  2. Bennett was a much better leader than Prime Minister King because he thought about actions instead of considerations. Compare to FDR, Bennett was sort of similar because both of them were doing more actions/right actions than the previous leader, but FDR gave more moral encouragement to his people. Bennett's policies were so different from King's. Through out a series of acts and conferences and new policies, people could see how he was trying to stop the depression and pull everybody back, which he did success. Bennett was doing and giving what were missing or lacking so his early measures are very effective (although the reading used "timid", I think it is better than nothing or worse). Also, Bennett changed (improved) some policies, which affected the nation structure and developed Canada into a more modern country.

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  3. Like the change from Hoover to FDR, the change from King to Bennett compares because they both were in similar situations. Hoover and King were more of the laid back type that thought eventually time would heal the governemnt and not to intervene. On the other hand FDR and Bennett were involving leaders. They both wanted to make a difference and brought up various ideas to do so. Ultimately the Depression in Canada was made worse by "lack of relief measures." This could be due to lack of involvement on King's part, although I am not saying that is the main reason. Bennett's policies differed from King's because Bennett believed in "traditional and [policies] based on relief and higher tariffs." King believed it was "best for the federal government to do nothing; essentially a believer in laissez- faire, he believed the economy would right itself if left alone." Bennett's early measures were effective on a different approach than the people of the time might have had. Ultimately initiating high tariffs worked.

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  4. After I read the text from I felt that Bennet was a much better leader than PR King because he actually thought about the decisions that he was going to make unlike King were he just made them without thinking them through at all. They both wanted to make a difference and brought up various ideas to do so. Ultimately the Depression in Canada was made worse by "lack of relief measures." This could be due to lack of involvement on King's part, although I am not saying that is the main reason. Also, RB Bennett’s early efforts were somewhat misplaced because, “high tariffs may have stabilized Canadian prices by excluding foreign competition, but they meant that those on relief could afford to buy even less because the high price of imports maintained domestic prices.” Bennett’s policy’s were, “traditional and based on relief an higher tariffs.” King on the other hand believed, “in balancing the budget and a limited government role.” Overall though initiating high tariffs worked.

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  5. You can compare the transition from PM King to PM Bennett like you would see the transition from President Hoover to FDR. In both cases the earlier leader took relatively little to no actions in an attempt to quell the symptoms of the Depression. Bennett and King differed greatly in their economic views as King believed in laissez-faire and that the economy would automatically right itself and government intervention would only make it worse. Bennett believed that the government should take action and started public loans, borrowing $150 million dollars. This money was spent on The Unemployment and Farm Relief Act 1931, Public Works Construction Act 1934, Farmers Credit Arrangement Act 1934, and relief camps.

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