Reconsidering Hoover

A generation ago, economists criticized Hoover’s reaction to the Great Depression in much the same way that other academics did.

Over the last 30 years, macroeconomists have been reconsidering the actual policies that Hoover have put in place, and reconstructed as much of the data as we can.

These days, macroeconomists view of Hoover is far different from what you’ll get in classes in other fields. Macroeconomists now recognize that Hoover’s policies were much closer to those of Roosevelt than to anyone else.

Check out this video from Lee Ohanion, probably the biggest macroeconomic expert on Hoover:

The takeaway from this is that we should view the New Deal (economically) as a set of Hoover/Roosevelt programs, distinct from the policies of earlier Republicans.