10 Myths About FDR and The Great Depression
8. Hoover Was a “Hands-Off” Free Market President
It is commonly believed that President Herbert Hoover prescribed to Laissez-Faire economic policies and that this “hands-off” approach is what led to and exacerbated the economic crisis of the 1930’s and 40’s. In fact, much of FDR’s New Deal was extensions of Herbert Hoover’s policies. Hoover increased spending on government relief and dolled hundreds of millions of dollars to farmers and make-work programs. The liberal fallacy that Hoover was a free market president couldn’t be farther from the truth. Yet another example of how the left rewrites history. Government intervention or stalled what a free market economy would do: rebound and grow. If Hoover had been a free market president, perhaps the Depression may not have been so bad.
