Hi Andy, I think most economists would agree that the gold...

Hi Andy, I think most economists would agree that the gold standard did not cause the depression. But what it did do was to inhibit the ability of the Fed to respond to the crisis in private sector credit markets in the way the Fed has been able to in the current crisis. The lack of public sector stimulus caused the depression to become great, and by the time the gold standard was abolished in 1933 too much damage had been done for it to be repaired quickly. This is the reason for the current "go early, go hard" mantra of today's policymakers. Only time will tell if it's going to work.

The abolition of the gold standard, incidentally, was a hugely popular move, except for the minority of the population who owned it. Roosevelt was the only person to be elected President of the USA 3 times.