50 likes | 143 Views
Olney “The Role of Credit in the Consumption Collapse of 1930”. Vaughan / Economics 639. Overview from Abstract. Consumer spending collapsed in 1930, turning a minor recession into the Great Depression.
E N D
Olney“The Role of Credit in the Consumption Collapse of 1930” Vaughan / Economics 639
Overviewfrom Abstract Consumer spending collapsed in 1930, turning a minor recession into the Great Depression. • Households were shouldering an unprecedented burden of installment debt. Down payments were large. Contracts were short. Equity in durable goods was, therefore, acquired quickly. • Missed installment payments triggered repossession, reducing consumer wealth …because households lost all acquired equity. • Cutting consumption was the only viable strategy …for avoiding default. • Institutional changes lowered the cost of default by 1938. When recession began again, indebted households chose to default rather than reduce consumption.”