The Great Depression. Economy Appears Healthy By October 1929, stock values hit $87 billion Since 1914, wages had risen 40 percent Unemployment averaged.

The Great Depression

Economy Appears Healthy

• By October 1929, stock values hit $87 billion

• Since 1914, wages had risen 40 percent

• Unemployment averaged below 4 percent

• The 3 Republican presidents saw that business was good and assumed that everything was

Economic Danger Signs• An increase in personal debt– People bought radios, vacuum cleaners,

refrigerators, etc. even when they could not afford them

Republican Economic Policies

• Coolidge – “The business of America is business.”

• Trickle-down economics – tax cuts implemented for businesses and the wealthy

• Taxes were raised for the lower and middle classes

• European WWI debts and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff led to greater debt in Europe

The Election of 1928

Al Smith(D) Herbert Hoover(R)

v.

Real Estate and Stock Speculation

• In CA and FL, investors bought land to sell it for a quick profit – land didn’t sell

• Buying on Margin - Speculators bought stocks with borrowed money, then used those stocks as collateral to buy more stocks

The Market Crashes

The Market Crashes• Early 1929 –stock prices climbed to 191 - Bull

Market• By Sept. – prices reached 381• After this prices fell slowly and brokers called

in loans• October 24, investors began to sell their stocks• October 29, “Black Tuesday”, 16.4 million

shares were sold• November 13 – stock prices fell to 198.7,

losses totaled $30 billion

Banks Collapse

• Banks closed–Depositors rushed to withdraw

money–More than 5500 banks failed– The money from 9 million savings

accounts vanished

Overproduction

• Americans acquired material goods to forget the war

• Machinery produced more goods in less time

• Industrialists & farmers flooded the market

The Crash Affects Millions• Impact on workers and farmers– Factories closed & workers lost jobs– 1 out of every 4 Americans were jobless– Small businesses also failed– Farm prices dropped lower, bankrupting many

Exit Slip

1. List two reasons for the crash of the Stock Market.

2. What is one question you still have?

Hoovervilles

The Dust Bowl

Dorothea Lange

Migrant Mother

The Bonus Army

Franklin Delano

Roosevelt