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While writing his book, Gross dreamed that he was searching through a huge, empty house for "friendly fascists."

While writing his book, Gross dreamed that he was searching through a huge, empty house for "friendly fascists."

{{cquote|I flung open one of the doors," Gross writes. "And there sitting at a typewriter and smiling back at me, I saw myself."<ref>Bertram Myron Gross, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=KLmyw-p7IwUC Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America]'' (South End Press, 1980) ISBN 0896081494, pp. 3-5</ref>}}

{{cquote|I flung open one of the doors," Gross writes. "And there sitting at a typewriter and smiling back at me, I saw myself."<ref>Bertram Myron Gross, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=KLmyw-p7IwUC Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America]'' (South End Press, 1980) ISBN 0896081494, pp. 3-5</ref>}}

Several myths have formed around both the New Deal and fascism. Among these are the myth that the New Deal ended the Great Depression, that fascism was a plot by big business rather than a mass movement, and that "corporativism" was the rule by corporations of the state, rather than the rule of the state over corporations. Regarding the New Deal's effectiveness in combating the Great Depression, one study found that New Deal policies actually prolonged the depression by about seven years.<ref>Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, "[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/421169 New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis]," ''Journal of Political Economy'', Vol. 112, No. 4 (August 2004), pp. 779-816; Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, "[http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/seminars/02-03/02-21.pdf New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis]," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Research Department Staff Report XXX, February 2003. Cf. Meg Sullivan, "[http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate],  UCLA Newsroom, August 10, 2004</ref> "[T]he consensus among historians today," writes Schivelbusch, is "that the United States completely emerged from the Depression only with its entry into World War II."<ref>Wolfgang Schivelbusch, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Z3GV5_n1h04C Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939]'' (Macmillan, 2006) ISBN 080507452X, p. 26</ref>

Several myths have formed around both the New Deal and fascism. Among these are the myth that the New Deal ended the Great Depression, that fascism was a plot by big business rather than a mass movement, and that "corporativism" was the rule by corporations of the state, rather than the rule of the state over corporations. Regarding the New Deal's effectiveness in combating the Great Depression, one study found that New Deal policies actually prolonged the depression by about seven years.<ref>Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, "[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/421169 New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis]," ''Journal of Political Economy'', Vol. 112, No. 4 (August 2004), pp. 779-816; Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian, "[http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/seminars/02-03/02-21.pdf New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis]," Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Research Department Staff Report XXX, February 2003. Cf. Meg Sullivan, "[http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx FDR's policies prolonged Depression by 7 years, UCLA economists calculate],  UCLA Newsroom, August 10, 2004</ref> In fact, Americans' personal consumption did not rebound to 1929 levels until 1941.<ref>[http://www.census.gov/statab/hist/02HS0034.xls No. HS--34. Personal Consumption Expenditures in Current and Real (1996) Dollars, 1929 to 2001], The 2009 Statistical Abstract: Historical Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau</ref> "[T]he consensus among historians today," writes Schivelbusch, is "that the United States completely emerged from the Depression only with its entry into World War II."<ref>Wolfgang Schivelbusch, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Z3GV5_n1h04C Three New Deals: Reflections on Roosevelt's America, Mussolini's Italy, and Hitler's Germany, 1933-1939]'' (Macmillan, 2006) ISBN 080507452X, p. 26</ref>

Regarding the myth that Naziism was a capitalist plot, David Schoenbaum notes that the Nazi Party census found the single largest category of Party members was “Workers” (30.3%), the second-largest category was “White collar,” (19.4%), of which 59.1% were in sales; the third-largest category, “Independent”/“Self-Employed” made up 19%, the largest group of whom were in “handicraft” (43.7%) Schoenbaum adds that of the two exhibits most often trotted out in defense of the Naziism-as-capitalist-plot thesis&mdash;Fritz Thyssen and the Krupps&mdash;that Thyssen eventually had to flee Nazi Germany for Switzerland, while even the Krupps “did not finance Hitler before 1933,” when his victory had become a ''fait accompli''.<ref>David Schoenbaum, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=1wNCSxrUlyMC Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939]'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997) ISBN 0393315541, p. 67</ref> Moreover, some business people likewise supported FDR's policies (e.g., "Although I'm a capitalist, I happen to believe in [Roosevelt's] program").<ref>Lorena A. Hickok, et al., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=nstfz85S4ccC One Third of a Nation: Lorena Hickok Reports on the Great Depression]'' (University of Illinois Press, 1983) ISBN 0252010965, p. 218</ref> Even Ronald Reagan was a New Dealer, back when he was a liberal Democrat and a Roosevelt man (although he later saw the light, saying, "Fascism was really the basis of the New Deal").<ref>Howell Raines, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60D10FB3A5F12728DDDAE0994D0405B8084F1D3 Reagan Denies Plan to Answer Carter]," ''The New York Times'', August 17, 1980, p. 1</ref>

Regarding the myth that Naziism was a capitalist plot, David Schoenbaum notes that the Nazi Party census found the single largest category of Party members was “Workers” (30.3%), the second-largest category was “White collar,” (19.4%), of which 59.1% were in sales; the third-largest category, “Independent”/“Self-Employed” made up 19%, the largest group of whom were in “handicraft” (43.7%) Schoenbaum adds that of the two exhibits most often trotted out in defense of the Naziism-as-capitalist-plot thesis&mdash;Fritz Thyssen and the Krupps&mdash;that Thyssen eventually had to flee Nazi Germany for Switzerland, while even the Krupps “did not finance Hitler before 1933,” when his victory had become a ''fait accompli''.<ref>David Schoenbaum, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=1wNCSxrUlyMC Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939]'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997) ISBN 0393315541, p. 67</ref> Moreover, some business people likewise supported FDR's policies (e.g., "Although I'm a capitalist, I happen to believe in [Roosevelt's] program").<ref>Lorena A. Hickok, et al., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=nstfz85S4ccC One Third of a Nation: Lorena Hickok Reports on the Great Depression]'' (University of Illinois Press, 1983) ISBN 0252010965, p. 218</ref> Even Ronald Reagan was a New Dealer, back when he was a liberal Democrat and a Roosevelt man (although he later saw the light, saying, "Fascism was really the basis of the New Deal").<ref>Howell Raines, "[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60D10FB3A5F12728DDDAE0994D0405B8084F1D3 Reagan Denies Plan to Answer Carter]," ''The New York Times'', August 17, 1980, p. 1</ref>