3. What connection does the author draw between government leaders and the Great Depression?
a. Despite his many efforts, Hoover was unable to undo the effects of Harding’s and Coolidge’s deregulation of financial practices.
b. Capitalists ignored Harding’s and Coolidge’s recommendations for regulating the economy so they stopped intervening.
c. Hoover was not aware of the debt and greed of capitalists and did not know how to successfully prevent an economic crisis.
d. Even though Hoover predicted that debt would cause difficulties for America’s economy, he did not believe it would end America’s prosperity.

A. Despite his many efforts, Hoover was unable to undo the effects of Harding's and Coolidge's deregulation of financial practices.

Explanation:

In this text, the author tries to find the causes of the Great Depression in the post-WWI period. He tells us that Harding was a passive president who was scared of taking any significant action in any way. Coolidge was similarly convinced that the federal government should intervene in the economy as little as possible. The consequence of such actions was that Hoover, who did believe that the economy should be controlled in some way, was unable to undo the damage of deregulation once he came to power.