Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Great Depression Basics and Roosevelts New Deal

Great Depression Basics and Roosevelt's New Deal The Great Depression was a period of worldwide economic depression that lasted from 1929 until approximately 1939. The starting point of the Great Depression is usually listed as October 29, 1929, commonly called Black Tuesday. This was the date when the stock market fell dramatically 12.8%. This was after two previous stock market crashes on Black Tuesday (October 24), and Black Monday (October 28). The Dow Jones Industrial Average would eventually bottom out by July, 1932 with a loss of approximately 89% of its value. However, the actual causes of the Great Depression are much more complicated than just the stock market crash. In fact, historians and economists do not always agree about the exact causes of the depression. Throughout 1930, consumer spending continued to decline which meant businesses cut jobs thereby increasing unemployment. Further, a severe drought across America meant that agricultural jobs were reduced. Countries across the globe were affected and many protectionist polices were created thereby increasing the problems on a global scale. Franklin Roosevelt and His New Deal Herbert Hoover was president at the beginning of the Great Depression. He tried to institute reforms to help stimulate the economy but they had little to no effect. Hoover did not believe that the federal government should be directly involved in economic affairs and would not fix prices or change the value of the currency. Instead, he focused on helping states and private businesses to provide relief.   By 1933, unemployment in the United States was at a staggering 25%. Franklin Roosevelt easily defeated Hoover who was seen as out of touch and uncaring. Roosevelt became president on March 4, 1933 and immediately instituted the first New Deal.  This was a comprehensive group of short-term recovery programs, many of which were modeled on those that Hoover had attempted to create. Roosevelts New Deal not only included economic aid, work assistance programs, and greater control over businesses but also the end of the gold standard and of prohibition. This was then followed by the Second New Deal programs which included more long-term assistance such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Social Security System, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, there is still question today about the effectiveness of many of these programs as a recession occurred in 1937 -38. During these years, unemployment rose again. Some blame the New Deal programs as being hostile towards businesses. Others state that the New Deal, while not ending the Great Depression, at least helped the economy by increasing regulation and preventing further decay. No one can argue that the New Deal fundamentally changed the way that the federal government interacted with the economy and the role it would take in the future. In 1940, unemployment was still at 14%. However, with Americas entry into World War II and subsequent mobilization, unemployment rates dropped to 2% by 1943. While some argue that the war itself did not end the Great Depression, others point to the increase in government spending and increased job opportunities as reasons why it was a large part of the national economic recovery. Learn more about the Great Depression Era: Causes of the Great DepressionNew Deal ProgramsNew Deal AcronymsHerbert Hoover BiographyFranklin Roosevelt Biography

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Changing the Text Direction in Microsoft Word

Changing the Text Direction in Microsoft Word Changing the Text Direction in Microsoft Word If you regularly use Microsoft Word with a language that reads from right-to-left, you may find that the right-to-left format remains when you try to write in English. This is because the text direction defaults to right-to-left in versions of Microsoft Word sold in some regions. Luckily, if youre using a Windows computer, changing the direction of text is easy via the left-to-right command. Only the most recent versions of Word for Mac support this feature, so if you encounter this problem, the best option is to copy and paste the text into a new document. Customizing the Quick Access Toolbar The first thing you need to do is add the left-to-right command to the Quick Access Toolbar. To do this, click the arrow next to the Redo button and choose More Commands from the dropdown list. Accessing the menus. On the next screen, you have the option to choose commands to add to the toolbar. If you cant see the left-to-right command, chose All Commands from the top menu. All commands. Next, scroll down and choose Left-to-Right Text Direction. The name of the command here may depend on the version of Word youre using. In Word 2010, this command is called Ltr run, while Word 2003 lists it as Ltr para. Left-to-right text direction. Now the button will be displayed on the toolbar (you can use a similar process to add it to the main ribbon if you right click on the ribbon and select Customize the Ribbon). LTR and RTL on the Quick Access Toolbar. Now select the text that is showing right-to-left, click the button, and it should switch to left-to-right. Repeat this last step anywhere in your document, including footnotes and comment boxes, where the text direction displays from right-to-left. Its also worth noting that you can select the Right-to-Left Text Direction command using the same method. This is useful if you need to switch back to the original format at any point. Formatting from Proofed If you would like to get your paper formatted perfectly, send it to the professionals at Proofed!