Well this may sound absurd and crazy, and just read the whole thing before you judge, but... For me it kind of seems the US used bits of Communism to get out of the Great Depression, or just to not hit rock bottom. Communism is very complex, but, it could be very simple just to say that everybody works for the government, has government jobs, and everyone is in the government. The government owns and "takes care of" all it's "industries". It is kind of easy to think of the government as just one big company, that produces all the stuff for a certain country, and everyone works there. Hm this is hard to put in words. Lets say there is a market called "Red Mart". Red Mart produces a lot of things, from fruits to hand guns. Say their fruit department is going under, they, as a company that has much other "departments" to provide financial support for, "invest" more money into the deparment. The fruit department can plant more orchards with this money, and soon, those orchards will pay for themselves and have much in surplus once the grow fruit. In the Great Depression, the government "invested" much money into the banks to stop the banks from closing, because that would take a huge blow into the economy. You wouldn't be able to get a loan. Where do you get the money to plant a fruit orchard, so you can feed your children? The bank. What happens if they don't have any money to give you? You don't plant an orchard, you live a life of poverty. So the government kind of gave you that loan, since the money flowed like this: Government > Banks > You. So in a way the government sort of funded the banks, just like in Communism.