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Essay on Great Depression of the 1930's
The Great Depression led to striking declines in most measures of economic well being. Banks failed, unemployment was high, profits plunged, prices for commodities (like farm crops) fell sharply, new construction almost stopped, few new businesses were opened, and there were drastic drops in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), industrial production, and stock market share prices. Real wage rates--that is hourly rates adjusted for consumer prices--held steady or rose, but the weekly hours of people who were employed shrank. The downturn is generally considered to have bottomed out in early 1933 after New Deal initiatives restored confidence, Cities around the world were hit hard, especially those based on heavy industry.
Depression had long been a term for an economic downturn. What gave this downturn the name the "Great Depression" was that it was by far the largest sustained decline in industrial production and productivity in the century and a half for which economic records have been regularly kept, and the fact that its impact was felt throughout the entire industrialized world and their trading partners in less developed nations.
The term Great Depression can refer to the economic event, but it can also refer to the cultural period, often called simply "The Depression", and to the political response to the economic events.The Wares family squatted on Terminal Island, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1930 because of the Great Depression.
The Wall Street crash of 1929 is widely considered to be the foremost event which marked the start of the world-wide financial crisis. While important, it was just one more marker of a distressed economy. In fact, in the United States, unemployment soared from approximately 3% to over 25%, while manufacturing output declined by one-third. Governments worldwide sought economic recovery by adopting restrictive autarkic policies such as high tariffs, import quotas and barter agreements and by experimenting with new plans for their internal economies.....
