Great Depression
Great Depression Severe economic depression that afflicted the USA throughout the 1930s. At the close of the 1920s, economic factors such as over-production, unrealistic credit levels, stock market speculation, lack of external markets, and unequal distribution of wealth all contributed to the prolonged economic crisis. The dramatic collapse of the stock market in October 1929 saw US$30,000 million wiped off stock values in the first week. Bank failures became commonplace. At the depth of the Depression (1932–33), unemployment stood at 16 million, almost 33% of the total workforce. The gross national product fell by almost 50%. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act increased US tariffs and effectively spread the depression worldwide. Franklin D. Roosevelt, sensing the national emergency, instituted the New Deal, which helped to mitigate the worst effects of the crisis. The economy only really started to pick up with increased defence spending in the 1940s.
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
Great Depression