1 / 0

The Great Depression

The Great Depression. What were the long term & immediate causes? What was the government’s response?. An Economy in Trouble…. Remember the prosperity of the “Roaring 20s” Gov’t easing business legislation Business boom thanks to auto industry Ripple effect Installment buying

emelda
Download Presentation

The Great Depression

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Great Depression

    What were the long term & immediate causes? What was the government’s response?
  2. An Economy in Trouble… Remember the prosperity of the “Roaring 20s” Gov’t easing business legislation Business boom thanks to auto industry Ripple effect Installment buying Buying on margin & the success of the bull market Not everyone was prosperous, however
  3. An Economy in Trouble…(2) Signs of an economic slow down Farmers having a hard time after WW I Production high from war demand Drove prices lower Hoover established Federal Farm Board Helped farmers sell goods & stabilize $$ Farmers didn’t ↓production Prices stayed ↓
  4. An Economy in Trouble…(3) Construction was ↓ Heavy machinery sales ↓ Consumer buying ↓ Stock Market nervous In 8/1929 investors starting to sell & trend continued Investors buying on margin asked to pay broker $ still owed Caused prices to drop If investors couldn’t pay, they had to sell their stock Caused prices to drop further
  5. An Economy in Trouble…(4) The Crash Tuesday, 10/29/1929 “Black Tuesday” NYSE bombarded w/sales Prices ↓ because there were no buyers Stocks became worthless paper Economy slid into depression
  6. Causes of the Great Depression… Too many goods, too few buyers Over production by farms & factories Wages didn’t rise as much as prices Farm families couldn’t participate in the economy Factories closed or laid workers off
  7. Causes of the Great Depression…(2) Problems in the banking system Banks loaned $ to investors of the stock market w/crash, couldn’t repay loans Banks couldn’t repay those who had deposited with them Forced to close
  8. Causes of the Great Depression…(3) Cycle of Disaster After crash, economy ↓ Caused a domino effect within the economy Crash → ruined investors → no investing → no new businesses/or expansion → no loans from banks → business cut production → workers unemployed → spent less → demand ↓ → led to businesses going bankrupt, etc…
  9. Life During the Depression… Life was hard! Unemployment ↑ ¼ of working force unemployed People lost homes, businesses, etc Families split up Fathers & adolescents left to find work Children searched garbage dumps for food
  10. Unemployment Line
  11. Homeless Family
  12. Christmas Dinner
  13. Life During the Depression…(2) Homeless drifted from town to town looking for work Homeless often moved to the edges of towns & set up shacks “Hoovervilles” “Shantytown” Standard of living ↓
  14. Squatter in Shack
  15. Mother w/ 3 of 7 children
  16. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? Pres. H. Hoover Believed gov’t shouldn’t get directly involved w/business At first, opposed relief programs Called on private charities to help the needy Churches, YMCA, etc.
  17. Private charities
  18. Private charities
  19. Private charities
  20. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (2) Eventually set up public works programs Gov’t hired workers to build schools, courthouses, pave highways Workers earned $$ Supposed to use that to purchase goods which would fuel economy
  21. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (3) Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) Loaned $$ to railroads, banks, & insurance companies Keep them in business & keep the employees Hoover’s programs had little success—too little, too late Depression grew worse Many blamed Hoover
  22. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (4) FDR-Franklin Delano Roosevelt Elected president in 1932 Promise: “I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people.” Vowed to help the jobless, poor, farmers, and the elderly Sought expert help for university professors of economics The Brain Trust
  23. FDR
  24. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (5) 1st hundred days in office were busy Passed many pieces of legislation to help the economy Wanted to restore faith in the banking system Believed that strong banks were needed to help the economy recover
  25. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (6) Passed the Emergency Banking Relief Act while banks had a “holiday” for 8 days Act provided that only banks w/enough funds to meet their depositors’ demands could reopen—others had to stay closed Attempted to restore American’s faith in banks Fireside chats
  26. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (7) Passed new legislation geared towards job relief & economic recovery New Deal 3 main goals: Relief for the unemployed Plans for recovery Reforms to prevent another depression “Alphabet Soup”
  27. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (8) Relief for the unemployed CCC Civilian Conservation Corps Provided jobs to young single men Planted trees, built bridges & parks Served a dual purpose Employment & conservation
  28. CCC
  29. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (9) FERA Federal Emergency Relief Administration Gave federal $$ to state & local agencies for the unemployed WPA Workers Progress Administration Jobless built hospitals, schools, playgrounds, etc. Also employed artist, writers muralists
  30. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (10) Programs to Promote Recovery Needed to boost industry & farming in order to have economic recovery Planned to control production, stabilize prices, & keep workers on the job
  31. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (11) NIRA National Industrial Recovery Act Each industry had to write codes for production, wages, prices, & working conditions Created the NRA-Nat’l Recovery Admin Enforce the new codes written by the industries
  32. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (12) PWA Public Works Admin. Promoted recovery for public works projects Built ports, schools, etc Limited success AAA Agricultural Adjustment Admin Paid farmers not to grow certain crops Destroyed surplus food & livestock Hoped to drive prices ↑
  33. AAA
  34. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (13) REA Rural Electrification Admin Loaned gov’t $$ to get rural areas electricity
  35. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (14) Reforms for the long term—prevention Truth in Securities Act End wild speculation that led to market crash Banking Act of 1933 FDIC-Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Insured savings accounts in banks approved by the gov’t
  36. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (15) TVA Tennessee Valley Authority Remake the Tennessee River Valley Poor area Destroyed by floods ½ of families receiving relief aid Built 40 dams Hydroelectric power Deepened river channels Planted new trees
  37. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (16) Labor Reforms Wagner Act Protected American workers from unfair management practices Guaranteed right of collective bargaining Pro union Fair Labor Standards Act Set minimum wage Children under 16 couldn’t work
  38. How did the Gov’t respond to the Depression? (17) Help for the elderly, jobless, poor Social Security Act Set up a system of pensions for the elderly Retire, collect payments, spend to fuel economy Provided unemployment insurance Gave states $$ to support dependent children & people w/disabilities
More Related