Economically speaking, there were a few responses. Congress, believing the United States needed protection from outside businesses raised tariffs, when in reality they should have been keeping them low. The reasoning behind this is simple. Keeping tariffs low is a key factor is keeping the economy moving. With raising tariffs, odds are the Depression would have been lessened. President Hoover tried pumping some $2 billion into the economy with public works, most notably the Hoover Dam, but did not spend enough in public works to get the economy moving. Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal pumped billions of government money into the economy with modest results. Even FDR's spending spree only helped a little because the economy was so far down. World War II was the only reason we got out of the Depression.