上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 为胡佛正名一一大萧条启示录 To justify President Hoover---the revelation of the Great Depression 孙文焕机械与动力工程学院机械动力类2011级 摘要：如今，世界各国正经历一场始于2008年的经济危机。纵观历史，不断上演的经济危 机一次又一次地榨干人类文明的果实。回顾人类历史上最严重的经济危机一一大萧条时，我 们可以发现：它在造成巨大破坏的同时，也带来了重要的启示。牢记它，或许能够帮助人们 免于重蹈覆辙。 关键词：大萧条，启示，胡佛，柯立芝繁荣 Abstract:The whole world is now undergoing an economy crisis starting from 2008.In retrospect, such crises keep harming human civilization again and again.When looking into the causes of the worst crisis ever---the Great Depression in the 1930s,we can discover its revelation along with its huge damage.Remember these revelations;they may help us out of future crises. Key Words:the Great Depression,revelation,President Hoover,the Coolidge Prosperity Nowadays,the whole world is suffering from a major economic crisis:some countries are fighting their way to get back to the right track;while others,or the majority to be more exact,are still floundering in the mire of recession.As the saying goes,"Past is future".When we retrospect the progress of world economy,the Great Depression that started in the Unite States of America and hit the entire capitalism world in 1930s is the last thing we can ignore.And it also reminds us of the 31st President of the United States,Herber Clark Hoover,whose image seems to be deeply pinned with the dilapidated landscape in America during the Great Depression.In a list of the worst 10 US presidents in the history produced by eight prominent British publicists,President Hoover ranked an indecent place as the seventh.As the columnist Camilla Cavendish puts it in the Times,President Hoover unconsciously turned the 1929 stock market crash into a global economy depression,and that weakened the democracy and paved way for the WWII.On contrary to the previous one-sided negative judgments on President Hoover's performance,this essay is intended to analyze among the multiple reasons some inevitable ones leading to the Great Depression, which could not be abruptly attributed to President Hoover.During the process,it will conclude the analysis of each reason with the author's perspective and expound the revelations of the Great Depression to the later generations. The Coolidge Prosperity At first glance,it seems ridiculous to draw any connection between the Prosperity and the Depression,letting alone labeling it as one of the key reasons that led to Great Depression, because the two are in such a sharp contrast.During the Coolidge Prosperity,America enjoyed a booming economy for nearly a decade,and the middle-class people exhibited great consuming 1 Nico Hines,"The 10 worst presidents to have held office-The Times US presidential rankings",,October 28,2008. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article1890268.ece) 1
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 1 为胡佛正名——大萧条启示录 To justify President Hoover---the revelation of the Great Depression 孙文焕 机械与动力工程学院 机械动力类 2011 级 摘要：如今，世界各国正经历一场始于 2008 年的经济危机。纵观历史，不断上演的经济危 机一次又一次地榨干人类文明的果实。回顾人类历史上最严重的经济危机——大萧条时，我 们可以发现：它在造成巨大破坏的同时，也带来了重要的启示。牢记它，或许能够帮助人们 免于重蹈覆辙。 关键词：大萧条，启示，胡佛，柯立芝繁荣 Abstract: The whole world is now undergoing an economy crisis starting from 2008. In retrospect, such crises keep harming human civilization again and again. When looking into the causes of the worst crisis ever---the Great Depression in the 1930s, we can discover its revelation along with its huge damage. Remember these revelations; they may help us out of future crises. Key Words: the Great Depression, revelation, President Hoover, the Coolidge Prosperity Nowadays, the whole world is suffering from a major economic crisis: some countries are fighting their way to get back to the right track; while others, or the majority to be more exact, are still floundering in the mire of recession. As the saying goes, “Past is future”. When we retrospect the progress of world economy, the Great Depression that started in the Unite States of America and hit the entire capitalism world in 1930s is the last thing we can ignore. And it also reminds us of the 31 st President of the United States, Herber Clark Hoover, whose image seems to be deeply pinned with the dilapidated landscape in America during the Great Depression. In a list of the worst 10 US presidents in the history produced by eight prominent British publicists, President Hoover ranked an indecent place as the seventh. As the columnist Camilla Cavendish puts it in the Times, President Hoover unconsciously turned the 1929 stock market crash into a global economy depression, and that weakened the democracy and paved way for the WWⅡ. 1 On contrary to the previous one-sided negative judgments on President Hoover’s performance, this essay is intended to analyze among the multiple reasons some inevitable ones leading to the Great Depression, which could not be abruptly attributed to President Hoover. During the process, it will conclude the analysis of each reason with the author’s perspective and expound the revelations of the Great Depression to the later generations. The Coolidge Prosperity At first glance, it seems ridiculous to draw any connection between the Prosperity and the Depression, letting alone labeling it as one of the key reasons that led to Great Depression, because the two are in such a sharp contrast. During the Coolidge Prosperity, America enjoyed a booming economy for nearly a decade, and the middle-class people exhibited great consuming 1 Nico Hines, “The 10 worst presidents to have held office-The Times US presidential rankings”,, October 28, 2008. ( http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article1890268.ece)
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 appetite and ability.In 1929,every four households possessed one automobile;the previous luxury gadgets---refrigerators,radios became household necessities.At the macro level,US GDP enjoyed an annual growth of 4%,and by the end of 1929,it had possessed world's 55%gold reserve;its gross industrial production outnumbered the total sum of Britain,France and Germany's GIP. Even President Coolidge himself claimed that American people had reached a blissful and rare state in human history.Therefore,to figure out the intrinsic links between the two,we have to look into signs of crisis behind the seeming prosperity. First of all,the prosperity was actually concentrated in a few industries and in the cities. Unlike the booming industries of automobile,steel,construction and electricity,the vast agricultural industry and light industry were suffering from a long-term recession,for the major capitals flowed to some more profitable ones.This severe disequilibrium in industry production, together with the excessive concentration of capitals,weakened the foundation of the seemingly booming economy and bred the bud of major recession. Second,the Coolidge Administration had excessive faith in the self-righting ability of capitalism and adopted the doctrine and policy that government should interfere in the economy and society as little as possible.As a consequence,the government underestimated the importance of building social welfare and security system and turned a blind eye to the speculative mania. What's worse,Coolidge's successor,President Hoover adopted the same policy even during the Great Depression.These policies did facilitate the development of commerce and industry temporarily,but in the long run,they further aggravated the inner contradiction of different social classes and left the whole economy in anarchy. From my perspective,the Coolidge Prosperity marks the summit of American's faith in the perfection of capitalism system,which,in other words,manifested that proper governmental interference in economy and society is not only beneficial,but also necessary.Consequently,even after the Great Depression,US government keeps strengthening its control and regulation over the economy and social security system.The latest examples are that the President Barack Obama urged the passage of the healthcare reform in Congress since his inauguration and that he signed into and effectuated the most severe financial bill since the Great Depression in July 21s,2010. However,these big-government policies work at a price,and excessive governmental regulations can also be devastating.In contrast to the situations in United State,the Chinese government has adopted overwhelming control over the economy and social security and welfare system since its foundation in 1949.Before the policy of reform and opening,the regulations from government isolated our country from the rest of the world,and pushing it into the abyss of recession.As the leadership came to realize the situation and gradually opened up the country and lightened the regulations on the private sector cautiously,the economy started to take off.Nowadays,after more than 30 years of prosperity,the same problem emerged again:private sector is still suffering from the monopoly of state-owned enterprises,heavy taxation and constraints.As Li Keqian,the newly elected standing committee of CCCPC addressed in Nov.21s,2012,"the on-going political reform and deepening of the reform of state-owned enterprises should be firmly carried on."2 He claimed that "government should give the market and the society the rights and power they deserved."3The revelation and lesson of the Coolidge Prosperity and Great Depression together with the reforms in China show that governments around the world should seek to keep a balance 2、3杨文娟、侯崇智，《李克强：改革是中国最大的"红利》，石家庄日报，2012年11月23日 2
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 2 appetite and ability. In 1929, every four households possessed one automobile; the previous luxury gadgets---refrigerators, radios became household necessities. At the macro level, US GDP enjoyed an annual growth of 4%, and by the end of 1929, it had possessed world’s 55% gold reserve; its gross industrial production outnumbered the total sum of Britain, France and Germany’s GIP. Even President Coolidge himself claimed that American people had reached a blissful and rare state in human history. Therefore, to figure out the intrinsic links between the two, we have to look into signs of crisis behind the seeming prosperity. First of all, the prosperity was actually concentrated in a few industries and in the cities. Unlike the booming industries of automobile, steel, construction and electricity, the vast agricultural industry and light industry were suffering from a long-term recession, for the major capitals flowed to some more profitable ones. This severe disequilibrium in industry production, together with the excessive concentration of capitals, weakened the foundation of the seemingly booming economy and bred the bud of major recession. Second, the Coolidge Administration had excessive faith in the self-righting ability of capitalism and adopted the doctrine and policy that government should interfere in the economy and society as little as possible. As a consequence, the government underestimated the importance of building social welfare and security system and turned a blind eye to the speculative mania. What’s worse, Coolidge’s successor, President Hoover adopted the same policy even during the Great Depression. These policies did facilitate the development of commerce and industry temporarily, but in the long run, they further aggravated the inner contradiction of different social classes and left the whole economy in anarchy. From my perspective, the Coolidge Prosperity marks the summit of American’s faith in the perfection of capitalism system, which, in other words, manifested that proper governmental interference in economy and society is not only beneficial, but also necessary. Consequently, even after the Great Depression, US government keeps strengthening its control and regulation over the economy and social security system. The latest examples are that the President Barack Obama urged the passage of the healthcare reform in Congress since his inauguration and that he signed into and effectuated the most severe financial bill since the Great Depression in July 21 st, 2010. However, these big-government policies work at a price, and excessive governmental regulations can also be devastating. In contrast to the situations in United State, the Chinese government has adopted overwhelming control over the economy and social security and welfare system since its foundation in 1949. Before the policy of reform and opening, the regulations from government isolated our country from the rest of the world, and pushing it into the abyss of recession. As the leadership came to realize the situation and gradually opened up the country and lightened the regulations on the private sector cautiously, the economy started to take off. Nowadays, after more than 30 years of prosperity, the same problem emerged again: private sector is still suffering from the monopoly of state-owned enterprises, heavy taxation and constraints. As Li Keqian, the newly elected standing committee of CCCPC addressed in Nov. 21 st, 2012, “the on-going political reform and deepening of the reform of state-owned enterprises should be firmly carried on.” 2 He claimed that “government should give the market and the society the rights and power they deserved.” 3The revelation and lesson of the Coolidge Prosperity and Great Depression together with the reforms in China show that governments around the world should seek to keep a balance 2、3 杨文娟、侯崇智，《李克强:改革是中国最大的"红利"》，石家庄日报，2012 年 11 月 23 日
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 between excessive governmental regulation and laissez-faire The public's overwhelming optimism about economy Wall Street villains As is mentioned above,the Coolidge Prosperity witnessed a booming economy and the tremendous improvement of people's living standard:After WWI,England and its European allies were exhausted economically due to the war,while the US economy was thriving,and the world danced to the America tune.And for the first time in history,the idea of"Buy Now Pay Later" became the mainstream.What's more,the consumerism culture came into being,which says that "we believe now in instant gratification,take care of now,and don't worry about the future,live for the moment."The bankers in Wall Street urged to form the sense in public that investing in stocks was not only safe,but reliable and respectable.They built up agencies around the country to teach the skill of speculating in stock market and all Americans began a mania of speculation. And the "Buy now Pay later"idea spread to the stock market and people began borrowing money to speculate on rising share prices.By the end of 1920s,90%of the purchaser's price was made of borrowed money and nearly 40 cents of every dollar in America were loaned to the stock market. An investor himself,President Coolidge was notably silent on the speculative mania led by Wall Street.With little government supervision,the market was a law to itself,and insider dealing and manipulation was rampant.In March 1929,President Hoover was inaugurated and he reassured Americans that "We had reached a higher degree of comfort and security than ever existed before in the history of the world."However,he was less confident behind the scenes.As Steve Fraser, author of "Wall Street,A Cultural History",put it,"He is actually skeptical about what's happening on Wall Street and the economy generally,but he doesn't have the political courage of his convictions.So when he became president,he did nothing to rein this wild speculative fervor."4 In September,the market became increasingly volatile while Wall Street bankers kept assuring President Hoover that the market would correct itself.Finally,on October 24th,the mania and chaos culminated with the Black Thursday,which trigger the 10-year-long Great Depression. In mere 36 hours,America lost 23%of the value of its industry. In my opinion,apart from the lack of government supervision and the manipulation of Wall Street bankers,the public were also culpable of the stock market crash:They were credulous of the stories of overnight fortune fabricated by Wall Street bankers and lost their mind in speculating, or gambling to be more exact,with borrowed money.However,the current economy crisis since 2008 shows that people have learned nothing from the Great Depression:before the housing bubble's breaking,American people had a lot of cheap credits as they did in the 1920s,and they speculated in real estate."In 1980s and 1990s,as faith in free market and optimism revived,many of the financial regulations Roosevelt had introduced were thought to be out-of-date,and were gradually dismantled.Consequently,a lightly regulated market that allows speculation to grow unchecked just as that of the 1920s emerged again."5 In China,such farce had happened,too.When I was junior two,the stock market in China 4 Joanna Bartholomew,《The Great Crash》(纪录片)，BBC,2009,23分4秒至23分 24秒 5 Joanna Bartholomew,.《The Great Crash》(纪录片)，BBC,2009,56分45秒至57分 07秒 3
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 3 between excessive governmental regulation and laissez-faire. The public’s overwhelming optimism about economy & Wall Street villains As is mentioned above, the Coolidge Prosperity witnessed a booming economy and the tremendous improvement of people’s living standard: After WWI, England and its European allies were exhausted economically due to the war, while the US economy was thriving, and the world danced to the America tune. And for the first time in history, the idea of “Buy Now Pay Later” became the mainstream. What’s more, the consumerism culture came into being, which says that “we believe now in instant gratification, take care of now, and don’t worry about the future, live for the moment.” The bankers in Wall Street urged to form the sense in public that investing in stocks was not only safe, but reliable and respectable. They built up agencies around the country to teach the skill of speculating in stock market and all Americans began a mania of speculation. And the “Buy now Pay later” idea spread to the stock market and people began borrowing money to speculate on rising share prices. By the end of 1920s, 90% of the purchaser’s price was made of borrowed money and nearly 40 cents of every dollar in America were loaned to the stock market. An investor himself, President Coolidge was notably silent on the speculative mania led by Wall Street. With little government supervision, the market was a law to itself, and insider dealing and manipulation was rampant. In March 1929, President Hoover was inaugurated and he reassured Americans that “We had reached a higher degree of comfort and security than ever existed before in the history of the world.” However, he was less confident behind the scenes. As Steve Fraser, author of “Wall Street, A Cultural History”, put it, “He is actually skeptical about what’s happening on Wall Street and the economy generally, but he doesn’t have the political courage of his convictions. So when he became president, he did nothing to rein this wild speculative fervor.” 4 In September, the market became increasingly volatile while Wall Street bankers kept assuring President Hoover that the market would correct itself. Finally, on October 24 th , the mania and chaos culminated with the Black Thursday, which trigger the 10-year-long Great Depression. In mere 36 hours, America lost 23% of the value of its industry. In my opinion, apart from the lack of government supervision and the manipulation of Wall Street bankers, the public were also culpable of the stock market crash: They were credulous of the stories of overnight fortune fabricated by Wall Street bankers and lost their mind in speculating, or gambling to be more exact, with borrowed money. However, the current economy crisis since 2008 shows that people have learned nothing from the Great Depression: before the housing bubble’s breaking, American people had a lot of cheap credits as they did in the 1920s, and they speculated in real estate. “In 1980s and 1990s, as faith in free market and optimism revived, many of the financial regulations Roosevelt had introduced were thought to be out-of-date, and were gradually dismantled. Consequently, a lightly regulated market that allows speculation to grow unchecked just as that of the 1920s emerged again.” 5 In China, such farce had happened, too. When I was junior two, the stock market in China 4 Joanna Bartholomew, 《The Great Crash》（纪录片），BBC，2009, 23 分 4 秒至 23 分 24 秒 5 Joanna Bartholomew, 《The Great Crash》（纪录片），BBC，2009, 56 分 45 秒至 57 分 07 秒
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 suddenly thrived and everyone was talking about stocks and attempting to make a profit. Countless number of financial laymen rushed to open accounts and invest their life savings into the risky stock market and the consequence was obviously tragic. The influences and damage of the Great Depression are severe and far-reaching.However, the later generations haven't learned much from it and abandon its revelation as cliche.As a result, every a few years or decades,the history repeats itself that human folly and greed are much stronger force in financial affairs than reason and restraint.While President Hoover was convicted the scapegoat for the Great Depression by the public,the people were the one who really suffered. We may blame the economy crisis or recession on others,but we cannot deny that we,the public, are the ones who make these tragedies possible. 参考文献： Nico Hines,"The 10 worst presidents to have held office-The Times US presidential rankings'”,,October28,2008,第1页。 Joanna Bartholomew,《The Great Crash》(纪录片)，BBC,2009,全片。 韩安俊，“美国‘柯立芝繁荣’的几个问题”，《辽宁大学学报》，辽宁大学出版社，1984， 第1页。 魏啸飞，“Hoover's Remedies((1932)”,《美国文明史英文教程》，北京大学出版社，2008， 第217页。 4
上海交通大学通识核心课程“历史视野下的美国文化”结业论文 4 suddenly thrived and everyone was talking about stocks and attempting to make a profit. Countless number of financial laymen rushed to open accounts and invest their life savings into the risky stock market and the consequence was obviously tragic. The influences and damage of the Great Depression are severe and far-reaching. However, the later generations haven’t learned much from it and abandon its revelation as cliché. As a result, every a few years or decades, the history repeats itself that human folly and greed are much stronger force in financial affairs than reason and restraint. While President Hoover was convicted the scapegoat for the Great Depression by the public, the people were the one who really suffered. We may blame the economy crisis or recession on others, but we cannot deny that we, the public, are the ones who make these tragedies possible. 参考文献： Nico Hines, “The 10 worst presidents to have held office-The Times US presidential rankings”, , October 28, 2008，第 1 页。 Joanna Bartholomew, 《The Great Crash》（纪录片），BBC，2009，全片。 韩安俊，“美国‘柯立芝繁荣’的几个问题”，《辽宁大学学报》，辽宁大学出版社，1984, 第 1 页。 魏啸飞, “Hoover’s Remedies(1932)”,《美国文明史英文教程》，北京大学出版社，2008， 第 217 页
