The Great Depression, and What Hoover Did (or Didn’t Do) About it
by Dr. H - October 6th, 2010
On Wednesday 10/6, we investigate the causes and effects of the Great Depression on ordinary Americans and consider what Hoover could have, should have, or was able to do as president to mitigate the dire consequences and to turn around the American economy. As we have seen in our current recession, this is no easy or quick task – and there’s not always agreement among economists, advisors and policymakers about how to respond in an economic crisis. So don’t be too hard on Hoover – no one knew in advance how long it would last, and no one had faced an economy that appeared so strong but was so weak in its underlying structure – and Hoover wasn’t working with a cooperative Congress, either. The idea that government should prevent/solve/fix the economy was new, remember, and wouldn’t take real shape until the FDR administration – that wasn’t the idea on anyone’s mind in the late 1920s.
For Friday – the New Deal. Links: FDR’s First Inaugural Address (1933) – first 3:45
