The Great Depression Review By: Mrs. Skye Morgan
Causes of the Great Depression Margin buying and speculation caused the stock market to crash Uneven distribution of wealth during the 20s laissez faire policies only benefited the wealthy Surplus of goods wages did not rise as quickly as production…overproduction occurred Business cycle Natural ups and downs of economy
Causes of the Great Depression Overuse of credit Caused debt, banks loaned out too much money/crashed Farm debt Cont. to pile up and Dust Bowl…many farmers had to sale their farms or abandon them Govt. Policies Laissez faire allowed the economy to grow too rapidly with only a small % in control of nations’ wealth
Stock market crashes Black Tuesday 16.4 million shares were sold, by November losses totaled over 30 billion Corporations shut their doors Many people lose their jobs
Hoover’ s Policies Rugged Individualism It is a person’s responsibility to work hard and provide for themselves Trickle down Economics/Reconstruction Finance Corporation Tax breaks to business would trickle down in form of jobs and wages Increasing public works Big projects to create jobs…Boulder Dam(Hoover Dam)
Effects of the Great Depression 25% of workforce unemployed Hoovervilles and migrants Neglected medical care Postponed marriages Depression and suicide Increased racial tensions Banks failed Families lost life savings Shook America’ faith in banks
FDR’s Policies New Deal Programs/Alphabet Soup Expanded Federal Government control over economy 3 R’s—Relief, Recovery and Reform Direct relief to needy-food, shelter, clothing Economic recovery-jobs Reform-to prevent economic crisis from happening again Criticism Turning Govt’ Socialist
Dust Bowl Causes Overplowing and drought Effects Farmers had to leave in search of work Killed livestock and people Schools and businesses had to close The Black Blizzard
End of Great Depression New Deal Led to increased Federal Deficit American people now depended on Govt Hard to evaluate the effects on the economy Wartime Industry The beginning of the war in 1939 in Europe led to a boom in industry, creating thousands of jobs (Industrial productivity increased 96%)