The Causes of the Great Depression The Great Depression was an economic downfall that to this day is the worst economic downfall in U.S history. The depression started in the United States. People all over the world were affected by it, especially in Europe, Germany, Great Britain and other industrialized areas of the world. Mainly because America was a big creditor to those countries after World War I. The Great Depression lasted in America for at least ten years, but it took twenty-seven years to get the economy back above depression levels.
Perhaps the worst economic downturn in the history of the United States occurred from 1930-1939. The Great Depression led to domestic and international crises effecting the poor and wealthy alike. Many financial experts today continue to debate the cause of The Depression, although most agree that several events led to the economic decline. The famous stock market crash on October 29, 1929 is just one of many causes economists believe led to The Great Depression. Known also as Black Tuesday, October 29th left stockholders shattered with recorded losses reaching $40 billion dollars (Kelly, n.d.).
The Great Depression of (1929-1939) And the current United States economic situation What is the Depression? Depression is some thing that is very severe to the economic that downturn that lasts for several years. The last time the U. S economy has experienced a depression was since The Great Depression of 1929, which had lasted for about 10 years. The GDP growth rates were a magnitude not since 1930 of -8.6 percent, 1931 of -6.4 percent, 1932 of -19 percent and in 1933 of -1.3 percent.
Before we can explore causes, we first need to define what we mean by The Great Depression The Great Depression was a global economic crisis that may have been triggered by political decisions (war reparations post-World War I), protectionism (Congressional tariffs on European goods) or by speculation .Worldwide, there was increased unemployment, decreased government revenue, a drop in international trade. Its kickoff in the U.S. economy was “Black Thursday," October 24, 1929. That's when 12.9 million shares of stock were sold in one day. It was triple the usual amount. At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, more than a quarter of the US labor force was unemployed.
(cite) According to David Whitten a Professor at Auburn University, the unemployment rate in 1893 exceeded ten percent. Then, on October 29, 1929, America experienced an economic meltdown, it was dubbed “Black Tuesday.” This was do to the crash of the U.S. stock market. The Dow opened that day at 299.6, but crashed 68.9 points to close at 230.7, losing 23 percent of its value. (cite) “Black Tuesday” would give
The middle class was nearly non-existent. This occurs often in the world, but the Great Depression was the worst economic downfall in the history of the U.S. It spread and affected all of the industrialized world. The depression began with Black Tuesday, and lasted for nearly a decade. According to Paul Alexander Gusmorino, the main cause of the drastic downfall was the combination of unequal distribution of wealth and the extensive stock market speculation that took place in the later years of that decade.
1920's - The WORST of Times The "Roaring Twenties" weren't so roaring for everyone. The time from 1920 to 1929 had many names, one of them being the “Roaring Twenties”. The economy was very strong during the 1920's until 1929 when it all came "crashing down". The 1920's held the Depression, Prohibition, and many political movements. The Great Depression started in America with the stock market crash in October of 1929, reached world-wide status, and continued into the 1940's.
The first big issue is the fact this time period is predominantly remembered as the “Great Depression.” The Great Depression began on October 29th, 1929 with the crash of the stock market in the United States. With stocks worth nothing, and a collapsing banking system the U.S. fell into a serious state of emergency. “The New Deal” had been put into effect by 1933 and had been putting a little giddy-up back into the economy. But by 1937, with the curbed spending by FDR and savings again on the rise, the economy and American lives took a second downturn and was referred to as the depression of 1937 I believe. As a business owner, people faced a lot of trauma in each major industry in Oregon.
It was, without a doubt, the longest and most severe economic downturn in American history. Widely held to begin with the stock market crash of 1929, the Depression lasted until the advent of American involvement in World War two unemployment skyrocketed during the Depression years, reaching levels as high as one third of the population. Output shrank tremendously, falling by ten per cent a year from 1929 to 1932. Nearly half of the commercial banks of the United States failed during the Depression. Crop prices fell by over fifty %.
Growing Up in the Great Depression The book Growing Up in the Great Depression by Richard Wormser is about the stock market crash of 1929, the causes of the Great Depression, and the impacts that the causes had on the nation. The Great Depression was an economic depression that settled over the country in the 1930’s. The depression affected everyone; the rich and poor, men, women, children, black and white, foreign and native born, workers and farmers. During this time “millions of people lost their jobs, their businesses, their farms, their homes, their savings, and their self-respect” (Wormser, 84). During the Roaring 20’s industry was booming, with more and more goods being mass produced.