BOOM AND BUST – A TIME OF GREAT CHANGE IN GEORGIA AND THE UNITED STATES.

THE 1920S

BOOM AND BUST – A TIME OF GREAT CHANGE IN GEORGIA AND THE UNITED STATES

WWI allowed farmers to make great profit off of cotton and other supplies

Atlanta Forward Commission brought new businesses to Georgia

Georgia’s first commercial radio station is started- WSB in Atlanta

THE BOOM

THE ROARING 20S

Blues and Jazz music become big hit

Roaring 20s- modern conveniences- frozen food, pre- sliced bread, electricity

There was good time music and parties, radio stations, first motion picture- “The Jazz Singer”

The fast paced life makes time “roar” by

THE BUST

Agriculture takes a beating-

› Cotton no longer needed for uniforms› Market created by war is gone price of

cotton drops from 35 cents to 10 cents a pound

› boll weevil hits and destroys cotton crop

› 1924 great drought hits and destroys what is left

› Farmers don’t experience prosperity of the Roaring 20s – can’t afford new inventions

BUSINESSES AND BANKS FAIL Banks and stock markets are

booming- but bad business practices are looming

Government maintains a laissez-faire attitude toward business

Banks are making bad investments- taking money deposited by people and investing in skeptical stocks

THE BUST CONTINUES

Banks made lending decisions - lending money to people who have no collateral or way to back it up

Stock market is exploding on the heels of unsafe speculating

Tuesday, October 29, 1929 – “Black Tuesday”› The stock market crashed-

millions of Americans lost everything they had

› Country is thrown into the woes of the Great Depression

Starts with an economic slow down… people begin spending less

Demand for products fall Profits fall People are laid off from work People have no jobs- they

spend less… And the cycle continues

decrease in profits

Increase in layoffs

Decrease in spending

At first… President Hoover decided less spending on the part of the government would be better, so programs were cut

As things got worse and worse… he tried a few things such as buying large amounts of cotton and other crops to help farmers

He set up a program to lend money to ailing businesses and supported public work projects

But it was all “too little …too late”

Soon Hoovervilles and soup kitchens were commonplace

Unemployment was at 25%

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

In most cases something will happen to turn things around…but this was not the case in the 1930S

For an entire decade the people of America were in the grips of the worst economic conditions our country has ever faced…

It would take a “New Deal” to pull America out of this Depression Or Would it?

What was the Great Depression?

What caused the Great Depression?