Order Number |
54476899006 |
Type of Project |
ESSAY |
Writer Level |
PHD VERIFIED |
Format |
APA |
Academic Sources |
10 |
Page Count |
3-12 PAGES |
Could the Great Depression have been avoided? Why or why not? Has your perception of the Depression changed? Why or why not? (200-300 words)
Remember to respond to two (2) other classmates.
(at least 100 words) Nayelli -The Great Depression could have been avoided. There were more goods being produced than what people could afford. Companies weren’t realizing that an excessive amount was being put out. This number of products was able to be put out because the stock market prices were high.
No one was worried about the consequences as they were on a high from the end of the war. Prices for these products started to fall, factories were closed, workers relieved. Companies and farmers started to lose money. People were buying products on credit when they didn’t have the money to pay them back later.
So many people got loans and stocks that when the stock market crashed, those loans couldn’t be paid back. The Great Depression could have been avoided if people just looked to the future of things and not the now because the consequences were great but avoidable.
I never really knew why the Great Depression happened. All I knew was that money was laying out everywhere during this time. I knew money meant nothing at this point. But to know that people’s actions caused it and not just the times I learned that people can be their own downfall.
I also understand why this happened. The war was not a fun experience and to be out of it people just wanted to enjoy the products that were being offered and companies wanted to take advantage of the high after the war. Nobody was really thinking a decade into the future.
(at least 100 words) Zakaria -It was not possible that the Great Depression could have been avoided. First, World War 1 did set the stage for a global economic disaster because of the debts and reparations that it created. Like in the Versailles treaty where Germany had to pay more than 33 billion in reparation for France and Britain. Which led world trade to a halt.
Also, much of the consumption in the 1920s was fueled by credit and installment buying. As it turned out unsustainable. by 1929 commercial bankers were in the unusual position of loaning more money for the stock market and real estate investment than for commercial ventures.
Consumer and business spending came to a halt as people’s investments became worthless and credit became scarce or non-existent. As a result, many employees were laid off. People lost their employment, and as a result, they were unable to keep up with payments on products purchased on installment plans.
Then we have bank failures, as the stock market crash rippled throughout the economy. People lost all their money when the banks crashed. Some people became terrified, resulting in bank runs as people attempted to withdraw their money, forcing more banks to collapse.
If I had to name a single cause of the great depression, it might be America’s banking system.
My perspective of the depression certainly has changed, as I believed that the stock market crash in 1929 is the cause of the Great Depression. Which led me to mistake correlation with cause.
Also, I thought the depression was limited to the U.S, But While the Great Depression began in the United States, it swiftly spread over the world, becoming a worldwide event.