The Hopeful Qutlook 269 
and accompanied the crash. The effects of the crash 
were largely psychological. President Hoover's 
instant realization that the panic of 1929 was pecul- 
iarly dominated by the psychological factor, enabled 
him to give useful reassurance to the nation in the 
business conferences held in Washington. Of course, 
he did well to emphasize the purely temporary help 
to be derived from an extended program of public 
works. He was not tripped by the ‘“‘make-work” 
fallacy, and he regarded the expedient merely as a 
balance-wheel in an emergency. When increased 
business again suffices to take up the slack in un- 
employment, public works should be restricted 
accordingly. In the circumstances Mr. Hoover's 
remedy, which consisted chiefly of reassurance, was 
more efficacious than any of the other remedies to 
counteract a repetition of the panics that are discussed 
in this book. As a means of further present re- 
assurance I trust that the book itself will be of some 
use, besides affording substantial reasons for prac- 
tical optimism for the future. 
The only “fly in the ointment” is the danger in a 
few years of gold shortage and long gradual defla- 
tion like the deflations after the Civil War and after 
the Napoleonic Wars. And even this danger may 
be averted if wise banking policies and gold control 
are adopted in time. For the immediate future, at 
least, the outlook is bright.