Hayek, Cassel, and the origins of the great depression

Thomas Hogan () and Lawrence White ()

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, vol. 181, issue C, 241-251

Abstract: We revisit the origins of the Great Depression by contrasting the accounts of two contemporary economists, Friedrich A. Hayek and Gustav Cassel. Their distinct theories highlight important, but often unacknowledged, differences between the international depression and the Great Depression in the United States. Hayek's business cycle theory offered a monetary overexpansion account for the 1920s investment boom, the collapse of which initiated the Great Depression in the United States. Cassel's warnings about a scarcity gold reserves related to the international character of the downturn, but the mechanisms he emphasized contributed little to the deflation or depression in the United States.

Keywords: Great depression; Gustav Cassel; F.A. Hayek; Gold standard federal reserve (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:181:y:2021:i:c:p:241-251

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2020.12.005

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