 What events led to the stock market’s Great Crash in 1929?  Why did the Great Crash produce a ripple effect throughout the nation’s economy?  What were the main causes of the Great Depression?

 Wages up 40% after WWI  Stock Market was soaring  Many people investing – get rich quick schemes  1920s fad – get into the market  America has emerged as a world economic, industrial, and military power

 200 businesses control 50% of the economy?  Why is this dangerous?  Too much industry overproduction - surplus goods not being purchased  Too many products not, enough consumers buying  80% of population has no savings

 Farm prices drastically fall after WWI  Farmers paid by gov. to make food for allies, creates a huge surplus  Farmers unable to repay loans after gov. pulls WWI agricultural contracts  6,000 banks close out West  What are the consequences?  Pres. Hoover vetoes all bills to help farmers  Laissez-Faire

 The market crash in October of 1929 happened very quickly.  In September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, - an average of stock prices of major industries, had reached an all time high of 381.  On October 23 and 24, the Dow Jones Average quickly plummeted, which caused a panic.  On Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, most people sold their stocks at a tremendous loss.  This collapse of the stock market is called the Great Crash. Overall losses totaled $30 billion.  The Great Crash was part of the nation’s business cycle, a span in which the economy grows, and then contracts.

Contraction  Expansion or Growth  $$Increasin g employmen t income & general prosperity$ $ Decreasing business activity; unemployment Expansion  Depression or Recession  $$“Boom”$$ Today, the Federal Reserve attempts to make the business cycle look like this 

BLACK THURSDAY Black Thursday Oct. 24 th, Stocks fall drastically - Brokers panic - GE falls from $400 a share to $283 a share - Brokers make margin calls – no one can pay

 October 29 th, 1929  Stocks plunge again  Value of market falls  People sell what’s left to get some $  By the end of Oct. – over $30 billion has been lost  Thousands lose everything

 Many lost life savings in the market crash  Banks and Brokers call in loans – American people have no $  Hundreds of banks close  No $ to pay back loans = empty savings accounts  Banks not prepared for people to withdrawal $ at the same time  No bank insurance  9 million savings accounts vanish

Great Crash Investors Businesses and Workers Investors lose millions. Businesses lose profits. Consumer spending drops. Workers are laid off. Businesses cut investment and production Some fail. Banks Businesses and workers cannot repay bank loans. Savings accounts are wiped out. Bank runs occur. Banks run out of money and fail. World Payments Overall U.S. production plummets. U.S. investors have little or no money to invest. U.S. investments in Germany decline. German war payments to Allies fall off. Europeans cannot afford American goods. Allies cannot pay debts to United States.

IMPACT ON FARMERS AND WORKERS  With cuts in production, factories began to close and workers lost jobs  Soon small factories closed – local businesses and restaurants closed too (workers had no money to go to them)  Already low farm prices fell lower (no one could afford them at the current price) farmers lost money and their homes

 Many of the world’s banking, manufacturing, and trade were interdependent  When the U.S. economy fell, the global economic system began to contract  After WW1 France & Britain needed to repay their war debts  Congress kept import taxes high making it hard for European nations to sell to the U.S.  German banks failed, so the Allies could not repay the U.S.

 The economic contraction that began with the Great Crash triggered the most severe economic downturn in the nation’s history—the Great Depression.  The Great Depression lasted from 1929 until the United States entered World War II in  The stock market crash of 1929 did not cause the Great Depression. Rather, both the Great Crash and the Depression were the result of deep underlying problems with the country’s economy.  Economists dispute what exactly caused it.

UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE DEPRESSION An Unstable Economy  The prosperous economy of the 1920s lacked a firm base.  The nation’s wealth was unevenly distributed. Those who had the most tended to save or invest rather than buy goods.  Industry produced more goods than most consumers wanted or could afford.  The uneven prosperity of the 1920s made rapid recovery from a poor economy impossible. (not enough money in enough hands) Over-speculation  Speculators bought stocks with borrowed money and then pledged those stocks as collateral to buy even more stocks.  The stock market boom was based on borrowed money! About 10 cents on the dollar!)  When loans were called in borrowers could not come up with the balance.

Government Policies  During the 1920s, the Federal Reserve System cut interest rates to assist economic growth (you can borrow at lower rate, so money is cheaper)  Then, in 1929, it limited the money supply to discourage lending.  As a result, there was too little money in circulation to help the economy after the Great Crash.  During the Depression, political leaders debated whether to stimulate the economy with higher government spending or to let the natural operation of the free market restore economic expansion & prosperity

Too much Debt  Many people were in debt and were vulnerable to poor economic conditions – too many loans  Many businesses were heavily in debt counting on good times. Banks Failures  Many banks were structurally weak  Many banks did not keep enough money in reserve so they could not deal with bank runs or bad loans  Failed banks had no money to lend Breakdown of International Trade.  Many European countries had large debts with U.S. banks  High Tariffs (Smoot Hawley Act) reduced amount of European goods purchased – no new income for Europe – can’t pay back loans  Also demand for U.S. goods decreased