The Great Depression Outline

I. Surface conditions prior to the depression were deceiving.

A. Industry appeared to be at an all-time high.

B. People were extremely optimistic; they borrowed

C. The stock market crashed and set up a chain

reaction that almost destroyed our economy.

1. The crash weakened financial institutions and slowed down industrial expansion.

2. The crash caused a sharp decline in American purchases and investments abroad.

II. Complicated forces combined to cause the depression.

B. Other forces directly from World War I.

1. Complete dislocation of the world's economy. 2. Technological changes and improvements made

necessary by increased war production.

3. A rigid and inflexible economic system was

unable to adapt to necessary changes after

4. Easy credit policies led to unrestrained

speculation from our war financing methods.

C. The persistent depression in agriculture weakened the economy of the country.

III. The depression affected all segments of the economy and had a lasting impact on the social structure of the

A. There was a slow-down in the economic machinery

. . .
ies, it was almost completely depleted in others. At the end of the decade, France and the United States had the major share of the world's gold. This unusual distribution caused falling prices in other countries and produced a chronic economic depression. These factors, precipitated by the war, weakened the economic stability of the world and made it difficult to restore prosperity. Another factor stimulated by increased war production was technological improvement. These improvements made necessary the shifting of resources, both capital and labor. The speed of these advances outran industry's capacity for normal absorption. There was difficulty in re-employing workers displaced by new technology. Agriculture was hardest hit by technological change. Mechanization and other improvements made additional cultivation possible in all kinds of soils and climates. The depletion of agricultural staples caused by the war demanded greater annual outputs. The reduction in demand at the end of the war brought about a considerable fall in agricutural prices which proved to be both serious and long-lasting. The continuing effects of higher agricultural yields forced prices still lower. The prolonged depression in agriculture,
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Approximate Word count = 2319
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)