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Submitted by srmotl on May 19, 2006
Category: American History
Words: 2511 | Pages: 11
Views: 238
Popularity Rank: 31,631
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The Great Depression in the United States lasted from 1929-1940. It was the worst and longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world. This paper will address the main causes, Federal government response, policies enacted, and the impact the Great Depression had on American society.
A common misconception is that the stock market crash of October 1929 was the cause of the depression. In fact, it was a result of multiple issues in the economy.
The modernization of industry had created the capacity to produce vast quantities of goods, but the prosperity could only continue if demand grew as rapidly as supply did. People were persuaded to abandon values such as saving, postponing the purchase of goods until they could be afforded with cash, and buying only what was needed. This resulting mass consumption kept the economy going through most of the 1920’s.
There was a heavy concentration of wealth in the automobile and radio industry; however, these industries would not be able to expand indefinitely because the need for them was finite. The American economy wasn’t well diversified, so when these industries slowed down, the entire economy did as well.
Another underlying problem was the uneven distribution of wealth. As the decade progressed, the portion of income going to the wealthiest grew larger. This was largely due to two factors: While businesses showed remarkable gains in productivity in the 1920’s, workers received a relatively small share of this wealth. At the same time, with the passing of the Revenue Act of 1926, huge cuts were made in the top income-tax rates. Between 1923 and 1929, manufacturing output per person-hour increased by 32%, but workers wages grew by only 8%. Corporate profits increased by 65% in the same period, and the government let the wealthy keep more of the profits.
In 1929, the top 0.1% of American families had a total income equal to the bottom 42%. The...
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