Write an analytical summary
The author claims that Herbert Hoover is unfairly portrayed as a defender of Laissez-faire governance and the his dogmatic commitment to small governance led him to stand by and do nothing while the economy collapsed in the wake of the stock market crash in 1929.
Assignment:
Write an analytical summary of Hoover’s four years in office, paying special attention to the kinds of “interventionist” measures most commonly characterizing Roosevelt’s later New Deal. Include in your analysis the need to understand the impact of both Hoover’s and Roosevelt’s “interventionist policies” for policy-making today, in light of our current financial and economic problems. What lessons should we draw from this episode of US economic history, and in what regards (if any) are the current economic institutions so different that the “lessons” from the 20s and 30s are irrelevant to the issues of today.
Finally, write a short description of how history should portray Herbert Hoover.
