I have read that a bunch economists came to the conclusion that the 1930's depression was due to adherance to the "gold standard". This is the act of limiting the money available to what is in the gov gold vaults. According to this view, the solution is to print/release more money into the economy.

BTW, does anybody know how the relative magnitude of the 20's boom compares to the dot-com boom?

It is theorized that the bust size is a reversed mirror of the boom size.