Just wondering since I haven't gone over the time period in a while, but oftentime the cause of the Depression is oftentimes, by leftists contributed to Hoover and how he did nothing to try and prevent it.
Herbert Hoover was a president who's actions didn't really fit the bill for either someone condoning austerity, nor a Keynesian. Most Keynesians will argue that Hoover's spending was like "shooting an elephant with a pea gun." On the other hand, Hoover did not practice austerity. I'm not sure what effects Hoover's spending programs had on the Great Contraction. The length of the contraction probably had more to do with the Federal Reserve's monetary policy between 1929 and 1931, where they decided to simply raise interest rates in 1932 (or around there; I don't know the exact dates). So, easy monetary policy may have drawn out the contraction, explaining why it took around three years for the market to clear.
Most likely, Hoover's most harmful policy was his voluntary collusion with much of industry to maintain high wages. The effect was to ultimately make many more businesses economically untenable, contributing to the high unemployment rate that developed in the final two years of his presidency.
Don't forget Smoot-Hawley.
Thanks. That was informative, if you any sources I you could point me too so I could read a little more about him that would be helpful.
Robert Murphy's book on the Great Depression is a good one.
Hoover propped up wages, restricted immigration and ran up huge deficits. He took a $700,000,000 surplus and turned it into a $2,600,000,000 deficit. He increased spending by 40%.
Hoover certainly contributed to the Depression, not because he did so little but because he did too much.
I'd recommend reading America's Great Depression by Murray Rothbard. The book focuses exclusively on the Depression while Hoover was in office and demonstrates just how much he interfered with the economy by, as some others have pointed out already, protectionism, keeping wages artificially high, spending increases by government, etc.
Thanks. What is Roberty Murphy's book called btw?
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal" if I'm not mistaken