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",<The Times>,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”,<The Times>, October 28, 2008. ( http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article1890268.ece)