Doing Business In 1937

1325 Words6 Pages
Imagine you are a small business owner in Oregon City in 1937. What are the most serious problems that confront your business? Has the federal government been able to do anything to help you with these problems? What? What more could they be doing? What handicaps do they work under in trying to help you? As a business owner in 1937, times were hard all over the nation. When you think of local effects, such as being a local business owner in Oregon City, you can see the vast problems with the economy. 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.…show more content…
With wood, paper, and agricultural products as the center of the state's economy, there was little money moving around the state. By 1937, if you were a farmer then you saw the prices of your crops drop to record lows. The irony is that not only were the prices so low that farmers could make very little if any money, but nobody had any money to purchase any goods. The agricultural industry in Oregon by this point was a failing industry. Not because Oregon was affected by the “dustbowl,” but because there was no money to move products, and nobody had money to buy
Open Document