The Great Depression

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The Great Depression
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Defining Depression

• What is an economic depression?

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The 1920s

• The 20s were known as the Roaring 20s
• Was a time of peace and prosperity in America.
• Americans lived and spent like there was no
  tomorrow.

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1920s In Europe

• Growing consumer culture
• Entertainment
• Movies
• Radio
• Sports
• Standard of living increasing
• New Woman

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Woman voting in Finland (1906)
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The New Woman
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Economic Weaknesses in Germany

• Germany reparations
• Hyper inflation
• Dawes Plan

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Black Tuesday Stock Market Crashes

• On October 29, 1929 the Stock Market Crashes.
• The crash leads to a worldwide depression

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Causes of Great Depression 1

• Over speculation in the stock market
• What is a stock?
• People were buying stock on credit (on margin) in
  hopes that they would make money to repay.
• Massive gambling on the stock market made stock
  practically worthless!!!

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Causes of the Great Depression 2

• Overborrowing
• People were buying too much stuff on credit
• Got to the point that people were in too much
  debt
• Businesses were not getting paid, and not making
  money.

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Causes of the Great Depression 3

• Overproduction in Factories and Farms
• Factories and farms were making too much
• Factories and farmers were losing money and
  forced to shut down.
• Unemployment skyrockets

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Causes of the Great Depression 4

• Uneven distribution of wealth
• The rich were getting richer, while the poor were
  getting poorer.
• Rich were not spending their money, so the flow
  of money trickled to a halt.
• Caused money value to inflate

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Causes of the Great Depression 5

• Failure of Leadership of Governments
• When crises hit nations, government did not act
• Governments slashed budgets instead of spending
  money
• John Maynard Keynes

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Causes of the Great Depression 6

• High Protective Tariffs
• What is a tariff?
• High tariffs kept American businesses from having
  to compete with imported goods.
• Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930
• Countries retaliated by raising tariffs on the
  U.S.

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Impacts of the Great Depression

• Unemployment increased
• Homelessness increased
• Workers became more militant
• Farmers lost their farms
• Workers migrated in search for work.