Great Depression

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Severe global economic downturn

• End Date

  1939-12-31

• Resolution

  Outbreak of World War II

• Start Date

  1929-01-01

• Preceding Period

  Roaring Twenties

• US GDP Contraction

  30%

• Primary Catalyst (US)

  Wall Street Crash of 1929

• International Trade Fall

  Over 50%

• US Bank Failures (by 1933)

  9,000 out of 25,000

• Global GDP Fall (1929-1932)

  15%

• US Unemployment Rate (peak)

  25% by 1933

• Key Economic Characteristics

  High unemployment, poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production, international trade, widespread bank and business failures, deflation

• Contributing Factors (Pre-Crash)

  Speculative investment, lack of financial regulation, consumer credit expansion, massive leverage, social contagion for investing, new technologies (Radio), wealth inequality, declining spending, overproduction, income inequality

• Exacerbating Factor (Hoover Administration)

  Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act

Timeline

• General Motors pioneers Consumer Credit, initiating a shift in American attitudes towards debt and expanding leverage. (Source: Related Document)

  1919-XX-XX

• The 'Roaring Twenties' period of industrial growth and social development, marked by speculative investment, minimal bank regulation, and growing wealth inequality. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1920-XX-XX

• The economic expansion of the Roaring Twenties comes to an end, marking the beginning of the downturn. (Source: Federal Reserve History)

  1929-08-XX

• Wall Street Crash (Black Thursday) begins, often considered the start of the Great Depression. (Source: Wikipedia, Summary, DBPedia, Web Search)

  1929-10-24

• President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which is widely believed to have worsened the Depression. (Source: Wikipedia, Related Document)

  1930-XX-XX

• The stock market slide, which began in October 1929, continues until this point. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1932-07-XX

• Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in the US presidential election. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1932-11-XX

• Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as president; the US banking system has collapsed, and nearly 25% of the labor force is unemployed. (Source: FDR Library)

  1933-03-04

• The US unemployment rate rises to 25%, and approximately 9,000 of the 25,000 US banks go out of business. (Source: Wikipedia, Summary)

  1933-XX-XX

• Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party rises to power in Germany, fueled by the economic crisis and high unemployment. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1933-XX-XX

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt begins implementing a series of expansive New Deal programs to provide relief and create jobs. (Source: Wikipedia, Summary, Related Document)

  1933-XX-XX

• Some economies, including the US, Germany, and Japan, begin to show signs of recovery. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1935-XX-XX

• The outbreak of World War II stimulates factory production and provides jobs, effectively ending the Great Depression. (Source: Wikipedia, Summary, DBPedia, Web Search)

  1939-09-01

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and business failures around the world. The economic contagion began in 1929 in the United States, the largest economy in the world, with the devastating Wall Street crash of 1929 often considered the beginning of the Depression. Among the countries with the most unemployed were the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Germany. The Depression was preceded by a period of industrial growth and social development known as the "Roaring Twenties". Much of the profit generated by the boom was invested in speculation, such as on the stock market, contributing to growing wealth inequality. Banks were subject to minimal regulation, resulting in loose lending and widespread debt. By 1929, declining spending had led to reductions in manufacturing output and rising unemployment. Share values continued to rise until the October 1929 crash, after which the slide continued until July 1932, accompanied by a loss of confidence in the financial system. By 1933, the U.S. unemployment rate had risen to 25%, about one-third of farmers had lost their land, and 9,000 of its 25,000 banks had gone out of business. President Herbert Hoover was unwilling to intervene heavily in the economy, and in 1930 he signed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, which worsened the Depression. In the 1932 presidential election, Hoover was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who from 1933 pursued a set of expansive New Deal programs in order to provide relief and create jobs. In Germany, which depended heavily on U.S. loans, the crisis caused unemployment to rise to nearly 30% and fueled political extremism, paving the way for Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party to rise to power in 1933. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%; in the U.S., the Depression resulted in a 30% contraction in GDP. Recovery varied greatly around the world. Some economies, such as the U.S., Germany and Japan started to recover by the mid-1930s; others, like France, did not return to pre-shock growth rates until later in the decade. The Depression had devastating economic effects on both wealthy and poor countries: all experienced drops in personal income, prices (deflation), tax revenues, and profits. International trade fell by more than 50%, and unemployment in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities around the world, especially those dependent on heavy industry, were heavily affected. Construction virtually halted in many countries, and farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by up to 60%. Faced with plummeting demand and few job alternatives, areas dependent on primary sector industries suffered the most. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 ended the Depression, as it stimulated factory production, providing jobs for women as militaries absorbed large numbers of young, unemployed men. The precise causes for the Great Depression are disputed. One set of historians, for example, focuses on non-monetary economic causes. Among these, some regard the Wall Street crash itself as the main cause; others consider that the crash was a mere symptom of more general economic trends of the time, which had already been underway in the late 1920s. A contrasting set of views, which rose to prominence in the later part of the 20th century, ascribes a more prominent role to failures of monetary policy. According to those authors, while general economic trends can explain the emergence of the downturn, they fail to account for its severity and longevity; they argue that these were caused by the lack of an adequate response to the crises of liquidity that followed the initial economic shock of 1929 and the subsequent bank failures accompanied by a general collapse of the financial markets.

Web Search Results

• Great Depression - Wikipedia

  The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and business failures around the world. The economic contagion began in 1929 in the United States, the largest economy in the world, with the devastating Wall Street crash of 1929 often considered the beginning of the Depression. Among the countries with the [...] This article is about the severe worldwide economic downturn in the 1930s. For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation) "The Great Depression (disambiguation)"). [...] Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%; in the U.S., the Depression resulted in a 30% contraction in GDP. Recovery varied greatly around the world. Some economies, such as the U.S., Germany and Japan started to recover by the mid-1930s; others, like France, did not return to pre-shock growth rates until later in the decade. The Depression had devastating economic effects on both wealthy and poor countries: all experienced drops in personal income,

• Great Depression: Black Thursday, Facts & Effects - History Channel

  The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in modern history, lasting from 1929 until the beginning of World War II in 1939. The causes of the Great Depression included slowing consumer demand, mounting consumer debt, decreased industrial production and the rapid and reckless expansion of the U.S. stock market. When the stock market crashed in October 1929, it triggered a crisis in the international economy, which was linked via the gold standard. A rash of bank failures followed in

• Great Depression Facts - FDR Presidential Library & Museum

  What was the Great Depression? The "Great Depression " was a severe, world -wide economic disintegration symbolized in the United States by the stock market crash on "Black Thursday", October 24, 1929 . The causes of the Great Depression were many and varied, but the impact was visible across the country. By the time that FDR was inaugurated president on March 4, 1933, the banking system had collapsed, nearly 25% of the labor force was unemployed, and prices and productivity had fallen to 1/3 [...] More Information on the Great Depression: The beginning ofAmerica's "Great Depression" is often cited as the dramatic crash of the stock market on "Black Thursday," October 24, 1929 when 16 million shares of stock were quickly sold by panicking investors who had lost faith in the American economy. But some sectors of the American economy, such as agriculture, had been in difficulty throughout the 1920s. [...] At the height of the Depression in 1933, 24.9% of the nation's total work force, 12,830,000 people, were unemployed. Wage income for workers who were lucky enough to have kept their jobs fell 42.5% between 1929 and 1933. It was the worst economic disaster in American history. Farm prices fell so drastically that many farmers lost their homes and land. Many went hungry.

• Great Depression | Definition, History, Dates, Causes, Effects, & Facts

  Great Depression, worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until about 1939. It was the longest and most severe depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world, sparking fundamental changes in economic institutions, macroeconomic policy, and economic theory. Although it originated in the United States, the Great Depression caused drastic declines in output, severe unemployment, and acute deflation in almost every country of the world. Its social and cultural [...] The Great Depression began in the United States as an ordinary recession in the summer of 1929. The downturn became markedly worse, however, in late 1929 and continued until early 1933. Real output and prices fell precipitously. Between the peak and the trough of the downturn, industrial production in the United States declined 47 percent and real gross domestic product (GDP) fell 30 percent. The wholesale price index declined 33 percent (such declines in the price level are referred to as [...] The Great Depression, which began in the United States in 1929 and spread worldwide, was the longest and most severe economic downturn in modern history. It was marked by steep declines in industrial production and in prices (deflation), mass unemployment, banking panics, and sharp increases in rates of poverty and homelessness. ### What were the causes of the Great Depression? Four factors played roles of varying importance:

• The Great Depression - Federal Reserve History

  # The Great Depression ##### 1929-1941 The longest and deepest downturn in the history of the United States and the modern industrial economy lasted more than a decade, beginning in 1929 and ending during World War II in 1941. A bread line at Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street, New York City, during the Great Depression (Photo: Historical/Corbis Historical/Getty Images) by Gary Richardson [...] The Great Depression began in August 1929, when the economic expansion of the Roaring Twenties came to an end. A series of financial crises punctuated the contraction. These crises included a stock market crash in 1929, a series of regional banking panics in 1930 and 1931, and a series of national and international financial crises from 1931 through 1933. The downturn hit bottom in March 1933, when the commercial banking system collapsed and President Roosevelt declared a national banking [...] Bernanke, like other economic historians, characterized the Great Depression as a disaster because of its length, depth, and consequences. The Depression lasted a decade, beginning in 1929 and ending during World War II. Industrial production plummeted. Unemployment soared. Families suffered. Marriage rates fell. The contraction began in the United States and spread around the globe. The Depression was the longest and deepest downturn in the history of the United States and the modern

• Image

  

• Country

  France

• Instance Of

  Q6428674

• Notable Work

  Some of the most important features of the economic and financial situation in 1932

The Great Depression was period of worldwide economic depression between 1929 and 1939. The Depression became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion began around September 1929 and led to the Wall Street stock market crash of October 24 (Black Thursday). The economic shock impacted most countries across the world to varying degrees. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell by an estimated 15%. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s. However, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. Devastating effects were seen in both rich and poor countries with falling personal income, prices, tax revenues, and profits. International trade fell by more than 50%, unemployment in the U.S. rose to 23% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities around the world were hit hard, especially those dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries. Farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Faced with plummeting demand and few job alternatives, areas dependent on primary sector industries suffered the most. Economic historians usually consider the catalyst of the Great Depression to be the sudden devastating collapse of U.S. stock market prices, starting on October 24, 1929. However, some dispute this conclusion, seeing the stock crash less as a cause of the Depression and more as a symptom of the rising nervousness of investors partly due to gradual price declines caused by falling sales of consumer goods (as a result of overproduction because of new production techniques, falling exports and income inequality, among other factors) that had already been underway as part of a gradual Depression.