Is Roosevelt's Path Not for Putin?

It is amazing how many there's in common in today's Russian life and what happened in America of the 20-30th years of XX century. Conventional but diligently concealed by our "reformers" fact: twentieth years antecedent to Great depression were the time of domination of liberal economic sights denying any state regulation of economy.

As well as later in Russia of the ninetieth steady following to those sights and the roughest mistakes in the field of management led the USA to economic crash. America was rejected to a level of 1911. The same as it was ten - fifteen years ago in "reorganized" Russia, hundred thousand Americans in despair entered retail trade, many rushed to get occupied in kitchen gardens. Streets were overflown by beggars and unemployed, whole armies were formed of homeless children. People were knocked on the gates of prisons asking for overnight stop. Suicides became usual phenomenon.

They started in some states to bond - own substitutes of national currency - to pay off somehow hired workers for their work.

In such conditions of economic chaos Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed "New Rate" was elected the president of the USA, the main thing of the new rate was state regulation of the market. Next seven years (1933-1939) Roosevelt's administration managed to get the country out of crisis as a result of measures taken. Financial system was reformed and taken under dense state control, extensive state system of support of jobless and socially unprotected was created, public works acquired huge scales.

Already by 1941 level of industrial production reached parameters of 1929 and in 1941-1945 the USA reached the rates of industrial growth considered up to it inconceivable - 16,9% annually, industrial production was doubled. Though all Soviet political economists considered militarization of economy owing to entering the second world war by the USA as the main cause of that rise, it is necessary to recognize the fact that transfer of industry into military rails was a kind of fixer of methods of state regulation of the market.

One of the first steps of Roosevelt's government was prohibition of export of gold, silver and paper money from the country. Circulation of gold currency was cancelled. It was offered to population to exchange gold for paper banknotes under fear of imprisonment for 10 years and penalty in 100 thousand dollars. It made it possible to increase considerably gold reserves of federal exchequer, within 1934-1939 it increased more than twice. Today we notice how gold holdings of Russia are being spent for payment of debts of the Russian oligarchs and bankers to their western "colleagues". In result these "gold holdings" only for last three months decreased for 30 %.

The law of 1933 (current till now) entered by the president Roosevelt forbade banks to buy the shares of the industrial enterprises, Roosevelt shrewdly considered that banks would buy and swallow factories, would suck them dry and then throw them away as a garbage. However, the Russian banks are engaged in it today. Using means allocated to them by the state they buy up the shares of the Russian enterprises and companies under the pretext of rendering them support.

In words, subsequently, after termination of the crisis these shares will be offered for sale and the means got will go to the state treasury. Only it is hardly believed that even half of them will return back. It is terrible even to think what premium will be taken then by those who will be engage in realization of these blocks of securities.

In one of his presidential messages Putin quoted F.D.Roosevelt: "Working over the great national program which is called to give paramount blessings to broad masses, we really "touched someone's sore points" and we shall touch them henceforth. But these are "sore points" of those who try to reach high posts or riches, may be both in a short way - due to the common welfare".

Good words, only it is not clear what Putin meant almost right after occupation of the presidential armchair, having established uniform 13-percent of tax rate both for rich men and for the ones plundered by those rich men? Even today if the government touches someone's sore points, they appear to be the ones of the working people.

Probably, Putin did not know that in the beginning of presidency Roosevelt demanded from the congress to lower tax rates on small incomes and to increase them on large, to increase the tax for inheritance on 7%, having declared that "riches nowadays is not the result of individual efforts". Special federal law forbidding any increase of prices and tariffs for base services (including, municipal) in countryside acts in the USA since Roosevelt's times. Infringers are punished by large penalties and in some cases could be imprisoned.

How the Russian authorities care of people with small incomes we see by example of the law about monetization of privileges, reform of housing and communal services, increase of tariffs for all kinds of services, irrespective of where addressees of these services live and what their financial position is. By the time when Roosevelt came to power there was huge unemployment in the country (as well as in Yeltsin's Russia).

Roosevelt's government developed the federal program of employment. Workplaces in the majority were created artificially, recklessly economic value and, as a rule, they were connected to wide application of manual skills. In a result the government managed to employ over 4 million unemployed. For three and a half month they built or repaired 500 thousand miles of roads of the second class, 50 thousand school buildings, about 500 air stations, etc. For the next ten years administration of civil works created the tenth part of all new roads in America, the third of all new hospitals, three quarters of new schools.

For jobless creative trades such as architects, teachers, musicians, writers, journalists, actors there were projects incorporated under the general name "Service of Civil Works" which covered a wide spectrum of activity - from statistics and planning up to archeological excavations and organization of symphonic orchestras.

In today's Russia we can see reverse picture. The number of the unemployed increases every month - no actions, except for promotion of slogans "pull in the belts", "to rally", "not to shake a boat" and some increase in unemployment benefits, the government of the country does not undertake and, obviously, is not going to undertake anything. Unemployment benefit and a wage - completely different things and the first cannot replace the second.

In the American record sources the following episode is frequently resulted. When Roosevelt's assistant S.Rozenman presented him data on attempts of the republicans to privatize hydropower objects, Roosevelt, having grinned, dictated stenographer: "Old Testament said about it in the best way: "Thou shalt not steal"... ".

If somebody forgot Putin's "There will be no revision of privatization"? Especially if to recollect the purchase of "Sibneft" from Abramovich for 13 billion dollars. By the way, the budget of Russia in 1999 (in the first year of his being prime-minister) made 24 billion dollars. In a result it turns out that actions undertaken today by the president and prime-minister of Russia - Меdvedev and Putin - radically differ from those as a result of which the USA not only quickly enough overcome crisis but also soon became the strongest economically state of the world.

How not to remind our statesmen of Roosevelt's words: "We are against influence of money on policy, we are against control of private persons over finance of the state, we are against treatment of a person as with the goods, we are against hungry wages, we are against authority of groups and cliques". Full contrast to what is happening today in our country, doesn't it?

So, where will in a result these two misters lead Russia?

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