When the country was on the brink of another great depression did you expect him to come in with massive budget CUTS?
That's what Hoover did
That's a commonly belived myth.
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Year-President/Federal Spending ($bil)/Surplus as percentage of GDP (deficits are negative figures)
FY 30-Coolidge/3.3/0.8
FY 31-Hoover/3.6/-0.6
FY 32-Hoover/4.7/-4.0
FY 33-Hoover/4.6/-4.5
FY 34-Hoover/6.5/-5.9
presidency.ucsb.edu
Except for FY32 to FY 33 there is a nominal dollar increase each year. FY 33 has a small nominal decrease (not a "massive budget cut"), but in real terms there was an increase since there was deflation at the time and $4.7 bil in 1932 dollars are worth only $4.46 bil in 1933. (calculation using bls.gov )
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Hoover's Deficit Spending
Letter to the Editor in the Washington Post
by Hans Bader
April 7, 2009
Originally published in The Washington Post
William Hettinger [letters, April 3] rewrote history by falsely claiming that “President Herbert Hoover’s response” to the 1929 stockmarket crash “was to balance the federal budget.” Hoover actually ranup massive deficits, as the federal Office of Management and Budgetnotes.
Hoover inherited a large budget surplus, which hequickly turned into a deficit. By 1932, when he lost his bid forreelection, the deficit had reached $2.7 billion—the third-largestbudget deficit America had ever experienced. Hoover increasedgovernment spending from $3.1 billion to $4.7 billion in a failedeffort to stimulate the economy. And he increased marginal tax rates to63 percent.
Mr. Hettinger claimed that “economists of allstripes” agree with him that a balanced budget “helped bring on theGreat Depression.” None of the economists I know—liberal or conservative—believe this.
HANS BADER
Counsel
Competitive Enterprise Institute
cei.org
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...When it comes to federal spending during Hoover's single term in office, 1929 to 1933, what actually happened? According to the Office of Budget and Management Web site, Table 1.1, just the opposite of what Maddow repeatedly claims.
Federal spending increased $166 million in 1929, or 5 percent. In 1930, it rose by $193 million over the preceding year, at 6 percent. The pattern continued in 1931, with an increase of $257 million, nearly 8 percent. And for 1932, it rose a whopping 30 percent, by $1.08 billion. All told, federal spending increased 57 percent in this four-year period, according to the OMB...
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