Depression V Recession
The Great Recession of 2009, which in economic terms lasted two quarters but for many people stretched out quite a bit longer, was billed as the worst economic event since the Great Depression. This provides us with an opportunity to examine the two events, their respective time periods, and what sort of similarities and differences we can determined between them.
The 1920s were known as the roaring twenties, and were considered a boom time. The period after the First World War saw significant shifts in American life, in terms of standard of living and how people lived. The 20s saw a significant shift towards urbanization, fueled by job opportunities that were emerging in white collar sectors. The term urban is juxtaposed against rural -- in many cases these areas were what we would consider small country towns. But the shift away from the farm was a profound thing, and many major cities did begin to grow rapidly during this period.
Technological change drove many lifestyle changes. The automobile was just starting to become mass technology at the start of the war, but with newfound prosperity and increased production capacity it went from a luxury to a life necessity in the 1920s. Movies were another technology that gained in social importance during this period, as did radio, these emerging as the two most popular forms of entertainment. Music evolved during this period as well, again fueled by technology, both the radio and the phonograph, and the introduction of jazz marked a move toward modern musical forms (Sullivan, 2014).
In Winter Dreams, Fitzgerald captures some of these themes, in particular the theme of upward mobility and the American Dream. The main...
He eventually moves to New York, where he makes a lot of money in business. There is a moment where he realizes that his old dreams are not relevant anymore. The themes of wealth, upward mobility, of a new wealthy class, and of urbanization all play in this story.
So the 1920s are reflect upon as an era of excess, where wealth is not only possible but relatively easy for the ambitious, and society is changing in some very significant structural and sociological ways. From an economic perspective, the excesses were fuelled in part by very loose economic policy, known as laissez-faire economics (or "let it be"). This approach creates high levels of risk and volatility, such that boom periods as in the 20s are very strong, but bust periods can be just as strong (Investopedia, 2014).
World War I contributed significantly to the boom of the 1920s, because of the destruction it wrought on Europe. The war brought about a reshuffling of the power bases in Europe. Older, weaker empires like the Ottoman fell, Germany collapsed, and many other countries were forced into prolonged periods of rebuilding. Britain was the strongest empire left in Europe, but America was now the world's most significant power, having sat out most of the war and in the 1920s now both selling goods to Europe and lending the Continent money for rebuilding.
The 2000s
There some irony in the fact that the Great Depression saw the introduction of more structure and regulation to the economy, and the 2000s began with the removal of some of that structure, in the unwinding of the Glass-Steagall Act. The removal of banking restrictions in 1999 led within just a few years of the same kind of fast money and deceptive banking practices that created…
Depression The Great Depression Pre-Depression Economy Summary • Write a journal entry describing a weakness in your chosen character's sector of the economy that would later contribute to the Great Depression. • Write a summary of the weaknesses in the American economy that contributed to the Great Depression. The Great Depression was one events of the twentieth century that defined the entire century. It was the longest lasting and most widespread financial crisis in the
Thus, when stricter regulations should have been implemented, they were not, and the avoidable became utterly unavoidable. The president Hoover's initial reaction was to allow the market to fix itself, thus going alongside his lassiez-faire beliefs. Yet, he was forced by Congress to act, but did so minimally (Wilkison 1). Thus, it was not long before the nation was in demand of a more hands on president who was
Great Depression was the single most significant economic catastrophe of the 20th century, brought on by a lack of the ability to control monetary pricing as well as a period of sustained high unemployment. Unlike modern economies, pre-Great Depression governments did not have many tools to sway the economy one way or the other, there was a long standing belief in "laissez faire" capitalism, with the premise that all markets
Weak governmental intervention and stubborn responses by overzealous investors led to the stock market crash in October of 1929. Non-existent money artificially inflated the prices of stocks traded on the market and caused firms to produce more than they could sell. When reality hit, it was too late to prevent the market from crashing. President Hoover reacted by stimulating construction and public works projects. Urging firms to keep wages steady
The excessive use of margin had encouraged speculation. Poor governance on the part of banks and brokerages allowed for a market failure where investors were not making rational decisions, resulting in a bubble. A variety of new taxes were created to offset Roosevelt's social programs. The American psyche had been scarred by the abject poverty of such a wide proportion of the population. There was palpable fear and desperation. This
Great Depression was an immense tragedy for Americans. It was the beginning of involvement of government in the economy. After a decade of prosperity and optimism, the United States of America was thrown in despair on October 1929. The whole stock market got crashed and the Great Depression began officially. That day is known as Black Tuesday. There was no hope of the recovery of stock prices. Masses of Americans
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