For both Miller and Hoover, the culprit behind this speculative fever was Benjamin Strong. They believed that his policy of keeping interest rates artificially low to help European currencies was responsible for fueling the incipient bubble. Hoover had once been a prime supporter of American engagement in European affairs following the war, and had counted Strong a good friend. But he was now convinced that the policy of propping up Europe with artificially cheap credit had been taken too far. In his words, Strong had become “a mental annex to Europe.”
