His book will be out soon, and no doubt it will break into my earlier list. Meanwhile, he has posted a really useful flowchart summary.
My own views.
All recession are adjustment problems. The Great Depression’s adjustment problems included:
1. Massive reconfiguration of agriculture because of tractors, trucking, and refrigeration. This displaced farm laborers.
2. Massive reconfiguration of manufacturing, as the small electric motor changed many production processes. As Amy Sue Bix points out, as of 1920 there were still men rolling cigars and making light bulbs by blowing glass. Machines could to those jobs better.
3. Sudden changes in asset prices, as a land bubble burst in the late 1920s and a stock market bubble burst in 1929.
4. The rise of fascism/socialism in Europe and a fear of something similar here–regime uncertainty, to use Robert Higgs’ term.
5. Counterproductive New Deal initiatives, such as destroying pigs and organizing industry into cartels (the NRA).
6. Loss of trust in financial intermediaries.
7. Increase in international protectionism.
Also check out Alexander Field’s “A Great Leap Forward”. The 1920’s and 1930’s are underrated in terms of the number and revolutionary nature of the radically disruptive innovations which emerged during that time. Engines and refrigeration were just the tip of the iceberg.
But you agree that a monetary deflationary shock was largely responsible for the timing and severity of the downturn?
Most of these are reasons for higher growth and growth was indeed great from 1933-1937. The problem was the hole that was dug before this was immense. The prosperity of the 20s was built on debt which when it collapsed demolished asset values and destroyed most of the banking system and vast amounts of money. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have had a depression.