Intro TO The Great Depression

Causes of the Great Depression Overproduction Dependence of Staples Canada’s Ties with America Tariffs and Trades Buying on Credit The Stock Market

Over Production Twenties were a time of new technologies> devices such as card and radios became popular so they started to over produce them This created a problem> too many goods and not enough buyers People didn’t need nor could they afford multiple luxuries so companies stopped creating them Problematic> companies cut down production so they down size staff which means less jobs = less money for people to buy Poor Fordism never had a chance~~

Dependence of Staples Wheat, fish, minerals, pulp and paper were important exports for Canadians Competition> Canada is the main supplier of wheat. Around this time, Australia and Argentina become suppliers. Because of the surplus (aka more product than demand) prices dropped Canadian farmers suddenly face a drought. Rich wheat feilds become known as the dust bowl. No crops mean no money.

Canada’s Ties with America 1920’s Canada bought 65% of imports from America. Sells 40% of exports to the United States This means Canada NEEDS the American economy to do well. America’s economy falls and ours does too.

Tariffs and Trades European countries were used to bying Canadian and American goods Canada attempts to implement “protective tariffs”> they can help foster the local economy but they can also make the item too expensive. Canadian businesses could not afford to buy goods from other countries because they were too expensive with tariff charges.

Buying on Credit People loved the idea of “buying now and paying later” The interest on their purchases came back to bite them. Interest was far greater than expected. People start getting laid off and can’t afford monthly payments> products are taken away. Many people lost everything they owned.

Stock market People were interested in the stock market. Stock Brokers would entice people to buy stock by lending them large amounts of money. A buyer could borrow up to 90% of their stock money and repay when the stock profited. Stocks didn’t always go up> October 29th 1929, value of most stocks on the Toronto and Montreal markets drop over 50%

Class Task Create a mind map of the six causes of the great depression. Work on your speak easy assignments. Homework: Find a photo from the Great Depression (doesn’t have to be Canadian). Give the people in the photo a story, don’t do any extra research, just think of what some of the obstacles might be during this time. Story should be at least 2 paragraphs