Unfolding the Legacy of the Great Depression

{"### Key Insights into the Great Depression

Historical Significance: The Great Depression is noted as the gravest and longest-lasting economic downturn in modern history.
Duration: The era spanned from 1929, stretching to 1941.
Catalysts: Speculative investments in the 1920s led to the stock market crash in 1929, wiping out significant nominal wealth.
Contributing Factors: Poor Federal Reserve decisions, government inactivity, and reactive policy shifts prolonged the Depression.
Government Intervention: Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt employed various policies attempt to counteract the Depression.

The Catastrophic Stock Market Crash

The U.S. stock market endured a halving of value, a sharp contrast to the subsequent robust growth of the 1920s. Loose money policies and rampant margin trading contributed to soaring asset prices. By October 1929, market speculation had peaked, leading to catastrophic crashes collectively labeled as Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday, plummeting the Dow Jones Industrial Index by over 20% in just two days. This American downfall rippled across Europe, inducing widespread financial chaos.

Plunging into Economic Turmoil

The 1929 crash decimated both corporate and private nominal wealth, spiraling the U.S. economy into a severe downturn. Unemployment rocketed from 3.2% in 1929 to beyond 25% in 1933. Despite substantial government intercessions, the economic redemption came much slower than hoped, highlighting profound underlying issues beyond the initial crash.

The Young Federal Reserve’s Missteps

Newly founded in 1913, the Federal Reserve was criticized for poorly managing monetary policies. Post-1920 depression revival saw substantial monetary expansion. Conversely, the Fed’s sharp money supply reduction post-1929 drastically impacted small banks and broadly crushed quick recovery hopes, instigating severe financial liquidity crises.

Strength Through Tight Fist Policies

Before the Federal Reserve\u2019s existence, private institutions often resolved financial tumult swiftly. Post-1929, failing to inject necessary liquidity resulted in mass bank failures, deepening the financial downturn and propelling the Depression’s urgency.

Hoover’s Protective, Yet Challenging Measures

Contrary to notions of inactivity, President Hoover implemented significant federal spending increases and lifted public works programs. Yet, his efforts to prop up wages, maintain high prices, and enact hefty tariffs like the Smoot-Hawley Tariff hurt international trade and deepened the U.S. economic plight.

Persistent U.S. Protectionism

Facing economic distress, Hoover endorsed legislation aimed to block cheaper foreign competition, culminating in the notorious Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, causing an infamous breakage in global commerce and intensifying economic downturns both domestically and internationally.

Roosevelt’s Revolutionary New Deal

Franklin Roosevelt debuted the New Deal in 1933, focusing on bolstering American livelihoods and economy through innovative programs designed along Keynesian principles. Efforts ranged from infrastructure overhauls to unprecedented social welfare introductions, reshaping the American economic and societal pathway.

Successes and Shortcomings of the New Deal

Roosevelt’s administration radically transformed the U.S.’s approach to the Depression. While steps such as bank reforms and extensive public works employed many and stabilized the financial system, critics argue mixed effectiveness with extended economic recovery periods and numerous innovative regulatory measures faced business apprehensions.

The Confluence with World War II

The U.S. entered WWII, coinciding with 1941’s apparent end to the Depression through surged employment and GDP. Yet, a full market resurgence entailed benefitting from opened trade channels as wartime economic stipulations loosened, and private investments roused recovery post-war.

Wrestling with the Causes of the Great Depression

Identifying causative factors of this global economic downturn suggests an amalgam of dramatic market crashes, stringent banking laws, fiscal policy fluctuation by entities such as the Federal Reserve, and global trade restrictions helped precipitate and prolong the era’s profound social and economic fractures. “:”### How the Great Depression Set National Policy Paradigms?

The tumultuous unraveling of events between 1929 and the early ’40s fortified the belief systems deeply integrated into modern U.S. economic policy frameworks. Herein, persistent exploration of these foundational shifts garners pivotal learnings around state intervention in hefty economic crises paves reliance on legacies like Social Security, underscoring governmental actionist roles to this day.

Related Terms: stock market crash 1929, Federal Reserve, New Deal, World War II, Black Thursday, protectionism, Keynesian economics.

References

Berkeley Economic Review. “In the Shadow of the Slump: The Depression of 1920-1921”.
History. “Here Are Warning Signs Investors Missed Before the 1929 Crash”.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. “The 1929 Stock Market: Irving Fisher Was Right”. Pages 1-2.
McGrattan, Ellen R., and Edward C. Prescott. The 1929 stock market: Irving Fisher was right. *International Economic Review,*Vol. 45, No. 4, 2004, Pages 991-1009.
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U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject”.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “Lessons Learned? Comparing the Federal Reserve’s Responses to the Crises of 1929-1933 and 2007-2009”. Page 90.
The Federal Reserve Board. “Remarks by Governor Ben. S. Bernanke”.
Council on Foreign Relations. “What Is the US Federal Reserve?”
Sieroń, Arkadiusz. Inflation and income inequality. *Prague Economic Papers,*Vol. 26, No. 6, 2017, Pages 633-645.
Kenneth D. Garbade. **Birth of a Market: The US Treasury Securities Market from the Great War to the Great Depression. MIT Press, 2012.
The Federal Reserve History. “The Panic of 1907”.
Trading Sim. “Black Tuesday 1929 – 4 Things You Need to Know”.
Sautter, Udo. Government and Unemployment: The Use of Public Works before the New Deal. The Journal of American History, Vol*.*73, No. 1, 1986, Pages 59-86.
Econlib. “Hoover’s Economic Policies”.
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Library of Congress. “President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal”.
Britannica. “New Deal”.
Fraser Economic Research Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “The International Gold Standard and U.S. Monetary Policy From World War I to the New Deal”. Page 436.
JSTOR. “New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis”.
Independent Institute. “The Mythology of Roosevelt and the New Deal”.
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The National WWII Museum. “WWII Veteran Statistics”.
Skousen, Mark. Saving the depression: A new look at world war II. *The Review of Austrian Economics,*Vol. 2, No. 1, 1988, Pages 211-226.

Get ready to put your knowledge to the test with this intriguing quiz!

--- primaryColor: 'rgb(121, 82, 179)' secondaryColor: '#DDDDDD' textColor: black shuffle_questions: true --- ## What was the Great Depression? - [ ] A period of unprecedented economic growth during the 20th century. - [x] A severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. - [ ] A minor economic downturn affecting only the United States. - [ ] The space race between the US and the USSR during the Cold War. ## Which event is commonly associated with the start of the Great Depression? - [ ] The invention of the automobile. - [ ] The end of World War II. - [x] The stock market crash of 1929. - [ ] The signing of the Treaty of Versailles. ## How did the Great Depression impact unemployment rates globally? - [x] Unemployment rates soared to unprecedented levels. - [ ] Unemployment rates remained stable. - [ ] Unemployment rates decreased due to new job opportunities. - [ ] There was no significant impact on unemployment rates. ## Which of the following describe economic conditions during the Great Depression? - [ ] High GDP growth rates and booming industrial production. - [ ] Low unemployment and high consumer spending. - [x] Widespread business failures and massive human suffering. - [ ] Increase in export and import activities among countries. ## How did the Great Depression end? - [ ] The Great Depression ended automatically after 10 years. - [x] The outbreak of World War II significantly improved economic conditions. - [ ] Massive tax hikes on the rich ended the depression. - [ ] The building of the Berlin Wall marked its end. ## Which US governmental program was introduced to counteract the effects of the Great Depression? - [ ] The McCarthy Plan. - [ ] The New American Plan. - [x] The New Deal. - [ ] The Hoover Strategy. ## Who was the U.S. President during the onset of the Great Depression? - [x] Herbert Hoover. - [ ] Franklin D. Roosevelt. - [ ] Harry S. Truman. - [ ] Woodrow Wilson. ## What role did banks play during the Great Depression? - [ ] Banks had no significant role in the economic downfall. - [ ] Most banks found innovative ways to alleviate the crisis. - [ ] Banks were unaffected by the economic downturn. - [x] Many banks failed, exacerbating the economic crisis. ## Which international economic effect was caused by the Great Depression? - [x] Drastic decrease in global trade due to protectionist policies. - [ ] Global economic stabilization and prosperity. - [ ] Increased foreign investment and loans. - [ ] Rise in global employment rates. ## What agency was created as a part of the reforms to insure individual bank deposits during the New Deal? - [ ] Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). - [x] Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). - [ ] National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). - [ ] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).