Revised Thesis
The Great Depression was ushered by several events and circumstances including the stock market crash, bank panics, overproduction, missteps by the federal reserve, and an ill-timed tariff, that equally contributed to this devastating time that damaged America; Misguided policies and wrongful focuses of the federal reserve led a slow recovery of the Great Depression that lasted a decade.
Introduction
The Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped-out millions of investors. By 1933, the Great Depression reached its lowest point, when around 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed. There has been controversy as to what causes contributed to the Great Depression; Some of the causes were originally seen as equitable steps in protecting the economy. There is a consistent argument that multiple events and circumstances led to the origination of the Great Depression as Christina Romer suggests: “Not surprisingly, an experience as devastating and complex as the Great Depression has many different causes” (Romer, 1993). The Federal Reserve could not agree on a course of action and governmental policies deemed to help, may have done the opposite. The Great Depression was ushered by several events and circumstances including the stock market crash, bank panics, overproduction, missteps by the federal reserve, and an ill-timed tariff, that equally contributed to this devastating time that damaged America; Misguided policies and wrongful focuses of the federal reserve led a slow recovery of the Great Depression that lasted a decade.
References:
Romer, C. D. (1993). The Nation in Depression. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(2), 19–39. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.7.2.19
Newstex LLC (2020, September 24). The Main Causes of the Great Depression, and How the Road to Recovery Transformed the US Economy. The Business Insider, NA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A636356665/ITOF?u=nhc_main&sid=ebsco&xid=116c286c
Fishback, P. (2010). US monetary and fiscal policy in the 1930s. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 26(3), 385–413. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grq029
Herbert Hoover’s Response to a Question by the Press; 10/24/1930; Unemployment-PECE- Correspondence, October 1-25, 1930; President’s Subject Files, 1929 – 1935; Collection HH-HOOVH: Herbert Hoover Papers; Herbert Hoover Library, West Branch, IA.
Act of March 9, 1933 (Emergency Banking Relief Act), Public Law 73-1, 48 STAT 1.; 3/9/1933; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11
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