A BRIEF Look at the Global Economic Depression

“The Great Depression”Beginning in 1929 and

lasting into World War II

Causes of the Depression of the 1930s

World economy was heavily influenced by

US loans and trade during & after WWI.

In the 1920s, the US economy boomed …but

• industry & agriculture overproduced as European nations rebounded after WWI which caused prices to decline & unemployment to increase

• demand decreased for consumer goods (gap between rich and poor in the US)

Causes of the Depression of the 1930s

• the American stock market “crashed”• And businesses and banks began to fail

• Demands for payments by the US on international loans and reparations destabilized European economies.

The Results• Banks failed . . .

– Austria’s national bank went bankrupt

– All German banks closed for a month

– Over 2000 banks failed in the US

• Agricultural and Industrial production dropped

The Results• Unemployment

increased and wages dropped– In US and Germany

unemployment reached 30%

– In Britain 2.8 million were unemployed

• Global Trade slowed– Value of exports from

Latin America dropped 50%

– Southeast Asian rubber exports dropped over 50%

– Japan’s total exports dropped 50%