Why did government intervene in the economy in 1929, but didn’t in 1920? What about the situation did Hoover and his administration think was different? Did they think they would just help the economy recover faster?
I heard that Woodrow Wilson (?) was too ill to govern at the end of his term, and therefore did nothing to benevolently help destroy an already shaky economy. The policy was so successful that Harding followed it.
I think this is all explained in Tom Woods’ “Why you’ve never heard of the great depression of 1920” speech.
And yes, Hoover thought he was actually being a good guy by waging war on recession.
Actually, Harding was a big time partier who felt the “People” should have to conserve money and cut back on spending while he held lavish parties for his friends. There is a ton of irony here:
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Harding because he actually rolled back government spending slightly and forced economic actors (Everyone) to save, this extra real wealth added to the current savings pool helped the economy to adjust to the panic made by the monetary policies of the Wilson administration. Of course the press hated him for it.
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The Secretary of the Treasury was Herbert Hoover. Hoover publicly advocated the loose monetary and big spending policies that would later launch the Depression. Of course the press loved Hoover enough to put him in line to be president.
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Roosevelt ran on the platform that he would roll back the spending policies and regulations of the Hoover administration.
I’d love to have a reference for Hoover advocating big spending and loose monetary policy.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Great Depression and the New Deal by Robert P. Murphy.
Hoover was commerce secretary. [:)]
Dang. So it’s not free online. Do you know where Murphy got his references? [8-|]
Here it is
I think Rothbard talks about it in his America’s Great Depression.
Calvin Coolidge appointed the Fed chairman, Roy Young, who headed the Fed at the beginning of the Great Depression. How pro-market was Coolidge?
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