Did Government Policies Create the Great Depression?

[native]

After the 1929 stock market crash, the country entered a recession. Was it government policy mistakes that changed a normal recession into the Great Depression? 43% of the voters polled by Rasmussen think so. Only 26% disagree.

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[Baldy]

The Fed caused the depression, and the subsequent years of government meddling made it much worse.
No big surprise there.

[catamount man]

gpvernment fucks everything up that it touches.

[GannonFan]

Hard to say that Hawley-Smoot (I know it's officially in the other order, I just like the sound of it this way) wasn't a catastrophic decision by Hoover to sign it even though he ample counsel opposing it. So certainly in that particular case, the government made the wrong call. But like any recession/depression, there was plenty of blame to go around, both government and private sector.