The Great Depression

Current Issues through World History  EQ: How did the decline in the worldwide economy lead to the rise of totalitarianism?  GQ: What factors in the economy led to the events of The Great Depression?  SWBAT: Identify the causes of The Great Depression and contrast them with modern economic problems  Mission statement connections: A, C, & D

October 24, 1929  Stock exchange crisis  An unprecedented wave of sell orders shook the New York Stock Exchange  Stock prices tumbled  During the first three hours of trading stock values plunged by $11 billion

October 29, 1929  Black Tuesday  The stock market experienced the greatest crash in its history  The average price of a share of stock fell 12%  The reason for this was a convergence of economic problems of production, income, and credit  It also marked the beginning of the Great Depression, which destroyed the economy and left millions of Americans unemployed.

The Great Depression  “Any lack of confidence in the economic future or the basic strength of business in the United States is foolish.” – US pres. Hoover  November 15, 1929

1930  By 1930, more than 3.2 million people in the US were unemployed, up from 1.5 million before the Stock Market Crash of October  Worldwide, over 30 million people could not find jobs

Protectionism  Economic Nationalism  Nations try to protect domestic industries by limiting trade with other nations  To protect their industries, nations establish tariffs on imported goods  Tariffs- taxes on goods made in other countries and brought into a country for sale How could this government policy make the situation in the global economy worse?

June 17, 1930  Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act  It raised tariffs on imports an average of 20 percent in order to protect American industry and farming.  The tariff prompted retaliation from foreign governments and created a ripple effect of global trade reduction.

Worldwide News  In groups of 4-5 you will create a newspaper.  Your newspaper will include articles  It must include at least 3 articles from the perspective of the following:  A world leader  A wealthy business owner  A farmer  A typical worker  A professional athlete