During the 1932 depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided that prices for farm products were too low. His solution was to pay farmers to destroy pigs and crops so there would be less supply, and higher prices. Note any similarity to the video?

Today there are some suggestions that the govt should buy up distressed houses and demolish them, to create the same pleasant effect.

This is idiotic of course. Destroying assets cannot make everyone better off. It is just a very expensive way to help the businesses that create that type of asset. It would be cheaper, but still stupid, to hand them the money directly. The current bailouts are taking this more modern path.

a week old and unrelated, but did you read this? thought you might like it

http://www.slate.com/id/2203614/