Question

Summarize the main components of President Coolidge's economic philosophy.

Answer 1

- Calvin Coolidge became POTUS when President Warren G. Harding died. He was elected as re-elected in 1924. He was a Conservative Republican who firmly believed in small government. He was elected during the decade of great economic expansion and prosperity that preceded the Great Depression. The main components of his economic philosophy were:

- Laissez faire economics: Coolidge considered that government regulation and taxation had to be kept to a minimum.

- Regulatory Non-interventionism: Coolidge appointed government officials who preferred to leave businesses and corporations run their businesses unregulated and run their operation as they saw fit without any kind of government oversight.

- Independence of the Federal Reserve. Coolidge refused to oversee the actions and procedures of the Federal Reserve.

- Pro Big-businesses policies. Coolidge promoted economic policies that favored large corporations and appointed businessmen in key positions of economic oversight within the federal government who favored the same pro-business policies.

Answer 2

Calvin Coolidge presided over the "Roaring Twenties", a period in which the U.S. was experiencing a massive growth in their economy along with a peak in society's consumerist habits.

He encouraged businesses and manufacturers, reducing taxes and getting rid of all kinds of regulatory measures to give them more freedom. In addition, Coolidge applied protectionist policies to make sure local products were favored over imported goods. He basically believed that the government should have the least possible intervention in the market for it to prosper. For this reason, many historians link Coolidge very closely to the laissez-faire ideology (which translates to "let go").

Hope this helps!