Bullshit. Hoover did not directly cause the depression. Quite a feat, causnig a big economic depression just eight months after he took office. Get your facts straight and don't cloud your fucking mind with partisan bullshit.
Hoover, a globally experienced engineer, believed strongly in the
Efficiency Movement, which held that the government and the economy were riddled with inefficiency and waste, and could be improved by experts who could identify the problems and solve them. He also believed in the importance of volunteerism and of the role of individuals in society and the economy. Hoover, who had made a small fortune in mining, was the first of two Presidents to redistribute their salary (President
Kennedy was the other; he donated all his paychecks to charity).[SUP]
[2][/SUP] When the
Wall Street Crash of 1929 struck less than eight months after he took office, Hoover tried to combat the ensuing
Great Depression with government enforced efforts, public works projects such as the
Hoover Dam, tariffs such as the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff, an
increase in the top tax bracket from 25% to 63% and increases in corporate taxes.[SUP]
[3][/SUP]
These initiatives did not produce economic recovery during his term, but served as the groundwork for various policies incorporated in Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. After 1933 he became a spokesman in opposition to the domestic and foreign policies of the New Deal. In 1947 President Harry S. Truman brought him back to help make the federal bureaucracy more efficient through the Hoover Commission.
What caused the Great Depression, the worst economic depression in US history? It was not just one factor, but instead a combination of domestic and worldwide conditions that led to the Great Depression. As such, there is no agreed upon list of all its causes. Here instead is a list of the top reasons that historians and economists have cited as causing the Great Depression. The effects of the Great Depression were huge across the world. Not only did it lead to the
New Deal in America but more significantly, it was a direct cause of the rise of extremism in Germany leading to
World War II.
1. Stock Market Crash of 1929
Many believe erroneously that the stock market crash that occurred on
Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 is one and the same with the Great Depression. In fact, it was one of the major causes that led to the Great Depression. Two months after the original crash in October, stockholders had lost more than $40 billion dollars. Even though the stock market began to regain some of its losses, by the end of 1930, it just was not enough and America truly entered what is called the Great Depression.
2. Bank Failures
Throughout the 1930s over 9,000 banks failed. Bank deposits were uninsured and thus as banks failed people simply lost their savings. Surviving banks, unsure of the economic situation and concerned for their own survival, stopped being as willing to create new loans. This exacerbated the situation leading to less and less expenditures.
3. Reduction in Purchasing Across the Board
With the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes, individuals from all classes stopped purchasing items. This then led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce. As people lost their jobs, they were unable to keep up with paying for items they had bought through installment plans and their items were repossessed. More and more inventory began to accumulate. The unemployment rate rose above 25% which meant, of course, even less spending to help alleviate the economic situation.
4. American Economic Policy with Europe
As businesses began failing, the government created the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies. This charged a high tax for imports thereby leading to less trade between America and foreign countries along with some economic retaliation.
5. Drought Conditions
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, LC-USF34-9058-C
While not a direct cause of the Great Depression, the
drought that occurred in the Mississippi Valley in 1930 was of such proportions that many could not even pay their taxes or other debts and had to sell their farms for no profit to themselves. The area was nicknamed "
The Dust Bowl." This was the topic of John Steinbeck's
The Grapes of Wrath.