"As already noted, major factors bringing on the Great Depression were the severe monetary contraction that the Federal Reserve presided over, unit banking laws that made it almost impossible for small-town banks to diversify their portfolios, high-wage policies that made it more expensive for employers to hire people, the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that throttled trade, and the 1932 tax hikes that took money out of people’s pockets."
Banking, education and healthcare: all too important to be left in the hands of government, if for no other reason than they are too important to each individual to be left to the whims and ignorance of the general electorate and/or their representatives.
Great book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/FDRs-Folly-Roosevelt-Depression-ebook/...
"As already noted, major factors bringing on the Great Depression were the severe monetary contraction that the Federal Reserve presided over, unit banking laws that made it almost impossible for small-town banks to diversify their portfolios, high-wage policies that made it more expensive for employers to hire people, the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that throttled trade, and the 1932 tax hikes that took money out of people’s pockets."