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.
从几个方面来看，我们可以乐观地认为，这场危机得到了有效的处理。1929年大萧条教会了人们要做什么，以及——更重要的是——不要做什么。目前，当局正在放宽、而非紧缩货币政策：为此我们应该感谢米尔顿•弗里德曼(Milton Friedman)产生广泛影响力的分析。财政政策将趋于扩张，而非紧缩：我们都生活在凯恩斯(John Maynard Keyne)时代，他的“财政处方”在1929年尚未问世，是从当时错误的理论和政策中发展而来的。1930年的《司莫特-郝利关税法》(Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act)导致各国保护主义竞相高涨，加剧了萧条。没人愿意再犯同样的错误。