We can be optimistic about the effective handling of this crisis based on several factors. The Great Crash of 1929 has taught everyone lessons in what to do and, more importantly, in what not to do. Monetary policy is being loosened, not tightened: we can thank Milton Friedman's influential analyses for that. Fiscal policy will be expansionary, not deflationary: we all live in the age of John Maynard Keynes, whose fiscal prescriptions were unavailable in 1929 and grew out of the mistaken doctrines and policies of that time. The Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930, which led to “competitive” increases in protectionism by all, accentuated the Crash. No one is willing to repeat that error.
從幾個方面來看，我們可以樂觀地認為，這場危機得到了有效的處理。1929年大蕭條教會了人們要做什么，以及——更重要的是——不要做什么。目前，當局正在放寬、而非緊縮貨幣政策：為此我們應該感謝米爾頓?弗里德曼(Milton Friedman)產生廣泛影響力的分析。財政政策將趨于擴張，而非緊縮：我們都生活在凱恩斯(John Maynard Keyne)時代，他的“財政處方”在1929年尚未問世，是從當時錯誤的理論和政策中發展而來的。1930年的《司莫特-郝利關稅法》(Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act)導致各國保護主義競相高漲，加劇了蕭條。沒人愿意再犯同樣的錯誤。