New York and the Great Depression

Abstract

New York State historical facts including largely, government policies and actions, are presented from just before the Great Depression through the 1930s. This time period contains the terms of Governors Smith, Roosevelt, and Lehman. Special attention is paid to taxes of the time, especially the implementation of the gasoline tax. The repeal of Prohibition and the consequential taxes on alcohol, as well as school funding in the State of New York, are also discussed. State and federal revenue statistics have been gathered, and differences between these reports are noted. The statistics are then analyzed, extracting trends in receipts over the decade. Finally, a regression using the data is conducted for 13 states during the 1930s, to determine several effects on state revenue.