History 479B

Devine

Fall 2012

Anthony Campagna, “The Great Depression”

  1. How does the author assess the preparedness of the country’s political and intellectual leaders to deal with the depression?  Why were they ineffective and ill-equipped to handle the economic crisis?

 

  1. Why does the author believe that the actions Hoover took in response to the depression were overly optimistic, ill-advised, and even contradictory?

 

  1. What was the economic impact of the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act?  How and why did such a bill get passed?

 

  1. What was Hoover’s policy regarding war debts and reparations?

 

  1. What problems faced farmers during the depression?  How did the Agriculture Marketing Act address their situation? To what extent did it succeed?

 

  1. What was the purpose of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)? What factors prevented it from fully achieving its aims?

 

  1. What was Hoover’s attitude regarding direct financial relief to impoverished Americans?

 

  1. Why did Hoover put tax increases at the center of his fiscal policy?  What is the difference between an income tax, an excise tax, and a sales tax?  Why did the tax increases not produce the intended result?

 

  1. Why have some historians argued that the Federal Reserve’s failure to increase the money supply was the major cause of the Great Depression?

 

  1. Why did the demand for money fall after the stock market crash?  How did this help cause the Great Depression?

 

  1. Why is increasing the discount rates in the midst of an economic downturn the “wrong” monetary policy?

 

  1. How were both “politics” and the inaction of the Federal Reserve responsible for the banking collapse in March 1933?

 

  1. Despite their espousing nearly identical policies, why did Roosevelt defeat Hoover in 1932?