Bust, Boom and Bust Canada began the 1920’s in a state of economic depression and jobs were scarce There was lots of Inflation, as more money was printed, which reduced the overall value of money By mid decade, the economy was booming, fueled by growth in exports of natural resources and manufacturing The USA invested heavily in Canada and opened branch plants to get around Canadian tariff walls New technology made life better such as cars, telephones and radio A new Canadian art genre was created by the Group of Seven and Emily Carr (But the good life was not to last… )

The Crash The stock market fueled much of the prosperity of the 1920’s People were encouraged to invest in the market, many did so buying on margin (buying on credit) because people thought they would get rich quick and pay back the interest It was assumed stock prices would keep increasing Easy to obtain credit was also being used to buy consumer goods as well Too much use of credit and buying on margin created a “bubble” Industry and farms were over producing, relying on very high consumerism In October 1929, people started to sell their shares as the value of stocks fell and the “bubble” collapsed Many people who borrowed to buy shares went bankrupt, and the banks were unable to support the unpaid loans so they also went bankrupt This marks the beginning of the Great Depression, a time of hardship and unemployment People were unable to buy goods, which caused factories and farmers to lose lots of money