上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 appetite and ability.In 1929,every four households possessed one automobile;the previous luxury gadgets---refrigerators,radios became household necessities.At the macro level,US GDP enjoyed an annual growth of 4%,and by the end of 1929,it had possessed world's 55%gold reserve;its gross industrial production outnumbered the total sum of Britain,France and Germany's GIP. Even President Coolidge himself claimed that American people had reached a blissful and rare state in human history.Therefore,to figure out the intrinsic links between the two,we have to look into signs of crisis behind the seeming prosperity. First of all,the prosperity was actually concentrated in a few industries and in the cities. Unlike the booming industries of automobile,steel,construction and electricity,the vast agricultural industry and light industry were suffering from a long-term recession,for the major capitals flowed to some more profitable ones.This severe disequilibrium in industry production, together with the excessive concentration of capitals,weakened the foundation of the seemingly booming economy and bred the bud of major recession. Second,the Coolidge Administration had excessive faith in the self-righting ability of capitalism and adopted the doctrine and policy that government should interfere in the economy and society as little as possible.As a consequence,the government underestimated the importance of building social welfare and security system and turned a blind eye to the speculative mania. What's worse,Coolidge's successor,President Hoover adopted the same policy even during the Great Depression.These policies did facilitate the development of commerce and industry temporarily,but in the long run,they further aggravated the inner contradiction of different social classes and left the whole economy in anarchy. From my perspective,the Coolidge Prosperity marks the summit of American's faith in the perfection of capitalism system,which,in other words,manifested that proper governmental interference in economy and society is not only beneficial,but also necessary.Consequently,even after the Great Depression,US government keeps strengthening its control and regulation over the economy and social security system.The latest examples are that the President Barack Obama urged the passage of the healthcare reform in Congress since his inauguration and that he signed into and effectuated the most severe financial bill since the Great Depression in July 21s,2010. However,these big-government policies work at a price,and excessive governmental regulations can also be devastating.In contrast to the situations in United State,the Chinese government has adopted overwhelming control over the economy and social security and welfare system since its foundation in 1949.Before the policy of reform and opening,the regulations from government isolated our country from the rest of the world,and pushing it into the abyss of recession.As the leadership came to realize the situation and gradually opened up the country and lightened the regulations on the private sector cautiously,the economy started to take off.Nowadays,after more than 30 years of prosperity,the same problem emerged again:private sector is still suffering from the monopoly of state-owned enterprises,heavy taxation and constraints.As Li Keqian,the newly elected standing committee of CCCPC addressed in Nov.21s,2012,"the on-going political reform and deepening of the reform of state-owned enterprises should be firmly carried on."2 He claimed that "government should give the market and the society the rights and power they deserved."3The revelation and lesson of the Coolidge Prosperity and Great Depression together with the reforms in China show that governments around the world should seek to keep a balance 2、3杨文娟、侯崇智，《李克强：改革是中国最大的"红利》，石家庄日报，2012年11月23日 2上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 2 appetite and ability. In 1929, every four households possessed one automobile; the previous luxury gadgets---refrigerators, radios became household necessities. At the macro level, US GDP enjoyed an annual growth of 4%, and by the end of 1929, it had possessed world’s 55% gold reserve; its gross industrial production outnumbered the total sum of Britain, France and Germany’s GIP. Even President Coolidge himself claimed that American people had reached a blissful and rare state in human history. Therefore, to figure out the intrinsic links between the two, we have to look into signs of crisis behind the seeming prosperity. First of all, the prosperity was actually concentrated in a few industries and in the cities. Unlike the booming industries of automobile, steel, construction and electricity, the vast agricultural industry and light industry were suffering from a long-term recession, for the major capitals flowed to some more profitable ones. This severe disequilibrium in industry production, together with the excessive concentration of capitals, weakened the foundation of the seemingly booming economy and bred the bud of major recession. Second, the Coolidge Administration had excessive faith in the self-righting ability of capitalism and adopted the doctrine and policy that government should interfere in the economy and society as little as possible. As a consequence, the government underestimated the importance of building social welfare and security system and turned a blind eye to the speculative mania. What’s worse, Coolidge’s successor, President Hoover adopted the same policy even during the Great Depression. These policies did facilitate the development of commerce and industry temporarily, but in the long run, they further aggravated the inner contradiction of different social classes and left the whole economy in anarchy. From my perspective, the Coolidge Prosperity marks the summit of American’s faith in the perfection of capitalism system, which, in other words, manifested that proper governmental interference in economy and society is not only beneficial, but also necessary. Consequently, even after the Great Depression, US government keeps strengthening its control and regulation over the economy and social security system. The latest examples are that the President Barack Obama urged the passage of the healthcare reform in Congress since his inauguration and that he signed into and effectuated the most severe financial bill since the Great Depression in July 21 st, 2010. However, these big-government policies work at a price, and excessive governmental regulations can also be devastating. In contrast to the situations in United State, the Chinese government has adopted overwhelming control over the economy and social security and welfare system since its foundation in 1949. Before the policy of reform and opening, the regulations from government isolated our country from the rest of the world, and pushing it into the abyss of recession. As the leadership came to realize the situation and gradually opened up the country and lightened the regulations on the private sector cautiously, the economy started to take off. Nowadays, after more than 30 years of prosperity, the same problem emerged again: private sector is still suffering from the monopoly of state-owned enterprises, heavy taxation and constraints. As Li Keqian, the newly elected standing committee of CCCPC addressed in Nov. 21 st, 2012, “the on-going political reform and deepening of the reform of state-owned enterprises should be firmly carried on.” 2 He claimed that “government should give the market and the society the rights and power they deserved.” 3The revelation and lesson of the Coolidge Prosperity and Great Depression together with the reforms in China show that governments around the world should seek to keep a balance 2、3 杨文娟、侯崇智，《李克强:改革是中国最大的"红利"》，石家庄日报，2012 年 11 月 23 日