By Cliff, Liam, Max, & Ezra

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1929-1933
 President Hoover kept Federal Reserve from making more money
 International trade, income, tax revenue, prices, and profit declined greatly
 Most of the Western World affected, especially
Latin America

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1929-1930: National income down from $87bn to $75bn
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1931: Down to $59bn
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1932: $42bn
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1933: $40bn
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11,000 of 25,000 banks failed
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25% of all workers unemployed
(37% of non-farm workers)

The Great Depression Current Economic Crisis
13 million people unemployed
11,000 bank failures by 1933
Industry failure
Skyrocketing food and goods prices
President Hoover resisted intervening to help stop
Depression
Most people couldn’t afford basics (food, water, shelter)
Thousands left to live on streets
Bread lines became necessary to keep people fed
The government regulatory and recovery agencies that we have now did not exist. Many were created by FDR
When FDR became president he immediately implemented plans to move America out of the depression, similar to the plans proposed by Obama
In both cases large banks were making risky decisions that led to accumulating debt on their hands
Both involved massive stock crashes and several major bank failures
Both left millions unemployed
Both were an economic bubble caused by speculation in the market
Both led to unemployment, foreclosures, and bankruptcy
Millions unemployed
Stock Market failure
Drop in customer spending
Excess government spending increasing national deficit
Bush administration tax cuts lead to increasing debt
Price of food, housing, and other necessities increased
Price of gas increased
Bush and Congress worsened the impact of the crisis by making poor decisions to
“help” the economy
Buyouts of major banks were wasted by those banks in an attempt to settle their own debt not their clients’
The 2008 stock market lost $7 trillion in value but lost a smaller percentage than
‘29 stock market
Drop in value of loans and increasing amount of poor credit

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– Hoovervilles of cardboard and tar paper shacks were built across the country

“I like ‘em with ketchup.”
“Well, we ain’t got any.”
“We got ten bucks between us.”
“I seen too many guys with land in their head.
They never get none under their hand.”

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Bread lines. Photograph. Dec. 1930. LA Times. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://www.latimes.com/usiness/areers/ork/a-fidepression_fnjd52ke,0,5754978.photo>.
Dust Bowl - Dallas, South Dakota 1936. Photograph. 13 May 1936. Wikimedia Commons. 15 June 2007. Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://commons.wikimedia.org/iki/ile:Dust_Bowl_-_Dallas,_South_Dakota_1936.jpg>.
Geithner, Timothy. “The Current Financial Challenges: Policy and Regulatory Implications.” Council on Foreign Relations. New
York City. 6 Mar. 2008. Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 13 Jan. 2009
<http://www.newyorkfed.org/ewsevents/peeches/008/ei080306.html>.
“The Great Depression.” PBS. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://www.pbs.org/gbh/mex/ustbowl/eopleevents/andeAMEX05.html>.
Hoovervilles. Photograph. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://encarta.msn.com/edia_461558296_761584403_-1_1/oovervilles.html>.
Of Mice and Men. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://www.dist113.org/phs/epartments/ibrary/ice.jpg>.
Photograph of a Mother of Seven Children During the Great Depression. Photograph. 1936. 13 Jan. 2009
<http://history1900s.about.com/ibrary/hotos/lygd45.htm>.
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Wisconsin. 12 Jan. 2009 <http://us.history.wisc.edu/ist102/ectures/ecture18.html>.
Stein, Ben. “In the Financial Crisis, Ordinary People vs. Extraordinary Problems.” The New York Times 9 Jan. 2009. 13 Jan. 2009
<http://www.nytimes.com/009/1/1/usiness/1every.html?_r=2&scp=6&sq=current%20financial%20crisis&st=cse>.
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