It’s truly amazing that, 60 years later, the myth of FDR as having saved the country from the Depression still lingers on. Many economists at the time warned that his policies were prolonging it, but America had become so enamored of communism, fascism and “scientific” planning that they were ignored as obsolete cranks.
If you’re at all interested in the topic, then, by all means, read “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes. It’s a fascinating read about that era and you don’t need to be an economist to understand it. It will also become stunningly obvious to you how the Obama administration consciously set about to imitate FDR’s every move.
Obama is striving to finish what Roosevelt started.