What - or who - started the great depression?

Lee Ohanian

Journal of Economic Theory, 2009, vol. 144, issue 6, 2310-2335

Abstract: Herbert Hoover. I develop a theory of labor market failure for the Depression based on Hoover's industrial labor program that provided industry with protection from unions in return for keeping nominal wages fixed. I find that the theory accounts for much of the depth of the Depression and for the asymmetry of the depression across sectors. The theory also can reconcile why deflation/low nominal spending apparently had such large real effects during the 1930s, but not during other periods of significant deflation.

Keywords: Great; Depression; Herbert; Hoover; Unionization; Deflation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (54)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:144:y:2009:i:6:p:2310-2335

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