Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck The Great Depression By Cliff, Liam, Max, & Ezra

History of the Great Depression During WWI, US spent 3 times as much as earned from taxes After WWI, Allies owed lots of money to US, but couldn’t pay it back October 29, 1929 (Black Tuesday): Stock market crashes Causes:

President Hoover kept Federal Reserve from making more money International trade, income, tax revenue, prices, and profit declined greatly Most of the Western World affected, especially Latin America

Statistics : National income down from $87bn to $75bn 1931: Down to $59bn 1932: $42bn 1933: $40bn 11,000 of 25,000 banks failed 25% of all workers unemployed (37% of non-farm workers)

The Great Depression Current Economic Crisis 13 million people unemployed 11,000 bank failures by 1933 Industry failure Skyrocketing food and goods prices President Hoover resisted intervening to help stop Depression Most people couldn’t afford basics (food, water, shelter) Thousands left to live on streets Bread lines became necessary to keep people fed The government regulatory and recovery agencies that we have now did not exist. Many were created by FDR When FDR became president he immediately implemented plans to move America out of the depression, similar to the plans proposed by Obama In both cases large banks were making risky decisions that led to accumulating debt on their hands Both involved massive stock crashes and several major bank failures Both left millions unemployed Both were an economic bubble caused by speculation in the market Both led to unemployment, foreclosures, and bankruptcy Millions unemployed Stock Market failure Drop in customer spending Excess government spending increasing national deficit Bush administration tax cuts lead to increasing debt Price of food, housing, and other necessities increased Price of gas increased Bush and Congress worsened the impact of the crisis by making poor decisions to “help” the economy Buyouts of major banks were wasted by those banks in an attempt to settle their own debt not their clients’ The 2008 stock market lost $7 trillion in value but lost a smaller percentage than ‘29 stock market Drop in value of loans and increasing amount of poor credit

What life was like: Lots of unemployment and poverty Break down of families High dropout rates (2-4 mil in highschool) Homelessness – Hoovervilles of cardboard and tar paper shacks were built across the country

Quotes “I like ‘em with ketchup.” “Well, we ain’t got any.” “We got ten bucks between us.” “I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand.”

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