Examination of both sides of member banks' balance sheets reveals evidence that refutes the claim that higher member bank reserve ratios imposed by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 1936 and 1937 caused the relapse of the U.S. economy into depression. Member banks responded to higher...

The Veterans' Bonus, enacted January 1936, disbursed nine-year nonmarketable U.S bonds with a 3 percent annual interest rate to 3 million World War I veterans when bank savings accounts paid 2.5 percent. The average bonus per person exceeded 30 percent of the mean household income for the...