The new depression.

• Position: THE 1930S FLASHBACK - Wall Street's relationship with the government - Brief article

December 11, 1937, Upton Sinclair

The business men and the Wall Street speculators and their hired radio commentators and newspaper columnists set up a clamor that the economy is slowing because the government doesn't balance the budget, and doesn't allow the business men to make enough profits to encourage business.

In the single year of 1936 the big corporations of the United States had increased their profits six times as much as the workers have managed to increase their wages during the entire four years of the New Deal.

But that isn't enough for Wall Street. That isn't what they call real prosperity. They must be allowed to raise prices still further, they must be allowed to gamble on margin without interference by government commissions. They must be allowed to squeeze still further the purchasing power of the...