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Great Depression - Essay

Great Depression


Greg Squires The was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which touched virtually all of the industrialized world. The Depression began in late 1929 and lasted for nearly a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the Depression; however, the main cause for the was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The mal-distribution of wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between ...

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to a study done by the Brookings Institute, the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42% in 1929. That same top 0.1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all. Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford provides a striking example of the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class. Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million in the same year that the average personal income was $750. By present day standards, where the average yearly income in the U.S. is around $18,500, Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year! This maldistribution of income between the rich and the middle class grew throughout the 1920's. While the disposable income per capita rose 9% from 1920 to 1929, those with income within the top 1% enjoyed a stupendous 75% increase in per capita disposable income1. A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people ...

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unconstitutional3. The large and growing disparity of wealth between the well-to-do and the middle-income citizens made the U.S. economy unstable. For an economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. In an economy with such diversified distribution of income it is not assured that demand will always equal supply. Essentially what happened in the 1920's was that there was an oversupply of goods. It was not that the surplus products of industrialized society were not wanted, but rather that those whose needs were not satisfied could not afford more, whereas the wealthy were satisfied by spending only a small portion of their income. Three quarters of the U.S. ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 8/4/2005 09:07:01 AM
Category: World History
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 3395
Pages: 13

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