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 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.
It did not only affect Americans, but also the whole world. The Great Depression was caused by the crash of the stock market or the lack of real investment opportunities in the 1920’s, product innovation that caused less labor, President Roosevelt believed that it was caused by the structural problems and doubted simulative spending will solve the problem, and some argued it was caused by the shift toward modern employment relation that was made by the Great War. A Depression in the economy can start by raising taxes and dismissing government’s employees and both of these actions can start a depression and both of these were done by the government in 1929. Once this is done, it will have a chain reaction where it will get to the point where the economy will fall and cause its people to live in poverty. The prices of the products will either increase or stay the same but the wages of the people will always decrease.
This means that the prices for stock were too high, far higher than they were really worth, then they fell drastically. People who had borrowed money to buy high-priced stocks (intending to sell the stocks at a profit and repay lenders), went bankrupt. That’s further expounding on what I said about buying on margin. Black Tuesday also marks the beginning of the great depression (Regan3). Living conditions during this time were unsanitary and horrible.
What were the problems facing Germany in late 1918 and 1919? Germany faced numerous problems, every one varying in extremity. The loss of the war was naturally a large problem which created many spin-off issues, such as an unpleasant living environment, a worsening economy and naturally the deflation of the German peoples pride and spirit, due to propaganda they were fed with news that their army was excelling in the war, when in reality the exact opposite was occurring. Germany also was managing many other problems such as economic and socialist problems, unemployment was growing and many were living in poverty, not enough healthcare was being supplied, the country was divided and could not collectively manage a way to move forward, they had fought for 4 years and now needed something else to believe in. Germanys list of problems at this time was only growing.
It did not monitor interest rates to help regulate the economy when overproduction and inflation had started to cause unemployment in 1928-29 and the economy seemed likely headed toward collapse. The Federal Bank also did not stop small banks from giving bad loans or from purchasing bad or high risk stock. High tariffs in the 1920s hurt foreign trade and prolonged the depression when it had hit. When Many other nations blamed the US for their economic collapse in 1929 claiming that the high US tariffs helped create their
The Great Depression was the worst economic disaster in American history. A variety of factors led up to it, including a dangerous amount of stock market speculation and an excessive lending of credit. Other contributing factors were a weak farm economy, lack of government regulation of business, and high tariffs. Unemployment rose as high as twenty-five percent of the workforce and the U.S Gross National Product dropped from $104 billion to $56 billion. This huge depression eventually expanded across the globe, leading to a worldwide economic crisis.
How far were the consequences of the German inflation disastrous for Germany in 1923? (30 marks) The impact of hyperinflation was huge and caused havoc all across Germany. It has been claimed that the worst consequence of the inflation was the damage done to the German middle class. Inflation occurred as a result of a number of events including passive resistance, Germany’s debts from war reparations forcing Germany to continue to borrow more and more money. Germany was bankrupted after WW1 and robbed of its ability to feed itself and pay war reparations without printing money.
Other major causes and symptoms of such a severe economic crisis were the quantities of gold stockpiled by particular countries, large number of banks failing during the 1930s, the reduction in money spent by people and huge international trade barriers placed by governments. During this period it is estimated that international trade reduced by as much as 33% because of various factors. Even though the mentioning of the Great Depression indicates and is connected mostly with the USA it was a global event and a global economic depression. Every nation was in some way affected by the Great Depression, some more, some less, but it is considered that China’s silver standard contributed to making this country almost completely avoid the Great Depression. Countries in Europe experienced the depression differently and tried to fight it off differently.
To what extent was the revolution of 1905 a failure? Although Bloody Sunday was the immediate spark, there were many more short and long term causes prior to the revolution. The Long term causes may be split into two categories, Social and Economic, and Political. The first involves; the poor living and working conditions, that were a result of sudden industrial and population growth, and the harvest failures that had been a issue for decades, both of which contributed to high levels of violence from the lower classes. Furthermore the Jacqueries attacked government officials and buildings, destroying many official records, specifically those that referred to unpaid rents.