The 1930's

. . . in the words of Tom Wingfield, the narrator in The Glass Menagerie (1945): . . . that quaint period, the thirties, when the huge middle class of America was matriculating in a school for the blind. Their eyes had failed them, or they had failed their eyes, and so they were having their fingers pressed forcibly down on the fiery Braille alphabet of a dissolving economy.
(McElvaine)

The Good Old Days

Then and Now
From the perspective of 2009, it certainly appears that it was the general deregulation intended to restore, as much as possible, the good old days of the 1920's . . . and George W. Bush's Coolidge-Mellon-style tax cuts on the very rich that has caused enormous damage.
(McElvaine in introduction to 25th anniversary edition)

Austerity Hawks Want a Return to 1920's Capitalism

Drought

Then
Widespread droughts had afflicted the nation in the past-in 1881, 1894, 1901, 1911, 1916 and 1924-but none had been so severe as the drought that started in the year 1930. Now, over most of America, the sun stared like an evil eye at the earth, beating the soil into powder, scorching grass, drying up ponds and creeks, dooming huge trees. (Ellis)

Now
Drought Grips Parts of South, Midwest
La Nina Drought

Federal Reserve

Then
In 1927 the Federal Reserve did indeed encourage speculation by lowering discount rates from 4 to 3 1/2 percent. (Ellis)

Now
Federal Reserve keeps interest rates low
Quantitative easing fuels high in stocks

Radicals and Reactionaries

Then
Charles G. Ross of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"Men who are not afraid to question the wisdom of unrestricted capitalism-which is practically what we have today-are the real conservators of our institutions. The real threat to them comes not from the handful of Communists in our midst but from the conservative extremists who are not willing to yield an inch. There is vastly more danger to the established order from the economic reactionaries in Congress than there is from the so-called radicals." (Ellis)

Now
Congress Must Raise Debt Limit
Playing Chicken with the Debt Ceiling

Gardening

Then
The sale of flower seeds shot up as Americans, tired of the ugliness of their lives, turned to the beauty of homegrown flowers. As might have been expected, there was widespread cultivation of vegetable gardens. Many did this on their own, while others received official encouragement. (Ellis)

Now
The White House Garden
American Garden Revolution
Recession Gardens