"The fundamental business of the country, that is, production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis," - Herbert Hoover, on the eve of the Great Depression, Oct. 25, 1929
What caused the Great Depression? Robert McElvaine, a professor of history at Millsaps College and the author of Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the “Forgotten Man” and The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941, argues the very factors that made the 1920's roar were the instruments of its destruction - mass production, easy credit, and an ads industry that told Americas, 'spend away today, don't worry about tomorrow.'