Subject. This article discusses the scientific issue of the place and role of the tax mechanism in ensuring balanced and sustainable economic development, as well as the practical actions of the U.S. Government during the Great Depression of the 1920s–1930s, which bear significant similarities to the global economic crisis of the 2020s. Objectives. The article aims to identify the impact of taxes and the tax mechanism on overcoming crisis phenomena and transitioning to sustainable economic growth based on a balanced State budget. Methods. For the study, we used analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and the historical, case study, computational and statistical methods. Results. The article finds that during the Great Depression in the United States, increasing taxes to achieve a balanced national budget did not yield the expected results, on the contrary, combined with other factors, it only worsened the situation. The article presents a complete chain of cause-and-effect relationships of a political and economic nature that led to the decision to raise taxes in the United States during the Great Depression in 1932. Relevance. The practical significance of the obtained results lies in the possibility of taking into account, when making management decisions related to overcoming the current global economic crisis, causes of both objective and subjective nature.
References:
Kennedy D.M. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945. NY, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, 988 p.
Dorfman J. The Economic Mind in American Civilization 1918–1933. NY, The Viking Press, 1959.
Vasil'ev A.V. [The Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act of the 1930 as the classic example of a near-sided economic policy of the U.S. Government during the Great Depression]. Istoricheskii zhurnal: nauchnye issledovaniya, 2021, no. 1, pp. 22–38. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2021.1.34632 EDN: IOCYPQ
Petukhov V.A. [The interrelation of the Great Depression and trade wars]. Kreativnaya ekonomika, 2021, vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 3505–3522. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.18334/ce.15.9.113429 EDN: OIZZAU
Grinin L.E., Korotaev A.V. Global'nyi krizis v retrospektiv: kratkaya istoriya pod"emov i krizisov: ot Likurga do Alana Grinspena [The global crisis in retrospect. A brief history of Ups and crises: from Lycurgus to Alan Greenspan]. Moscow, Librokom Publ., 2010, 335 p.
Reed L.W. Great Myths of the Great Depression. Foundation for Economic Education, 2015, 46 p.
Pulya O. [The crisis in the USA and agriculture history lessons. the Great Depression of 1929–1938]. Agrarnyi ekspert, 2008, no. 11, pp. 48–55. (In Russ.) URL: Link
Tebekin A.V. [Prerequisites and consequences of the Great Depression crisis as a basis for comparative analysis with the modern global crisis]. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Ekonomika i upravlenie, 2024, no. 1, pp. 46–64. (In Russ.) EDN: IHRZXH
Engdahl W.F. Bogi deneg. Uoll-strit i smert' Amerikanskogo veka [Gods of Money: Wall Street and the Death of the American Century]. St. Petersburg, Proekt Voina i mir Publ., 2011, 132 p.
Keynes J.M. The Economic Consequences of the Peace. NY, Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920, 192 p.
Kuryaev A. (Ed.). Zolotoi standart: teoriya, istoriya, politika [The Golden Standard: theory, history, politics]. Chelyabinsk, Sotsium Publ., 2011, 562 p.
Galbraith J.K. The Great Crash 1929. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1979, 206 p.
Tebekin A.V. [Economic prerequisites for the 1932 presidential elections in the United States: a view from modern times]. Zhurnal prikladnykh issledovanii, 2025, no. 2, pp. 97–110. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.47576/2949-1878.2025.2.2.011 EDN: TANEGY
Mal'kov V.L. Velikii Ruzvel't. “Lis v l'vinoi shkure” [The Great Roosevelt. "Fox in lion's clothing"]. Moscow, Eksmo Publ., 2018, 560 p.
Lindblom C.E. The Science of ‘Muddling Through'. Public Administration Review, 1959, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 79–88. URL: Link
