The Great Depression - Assignment Example

Due The Great Depression The economic crisis that we face today has been compared to the Great Depression; with all of the rampant unemployment, loss of income and inability to sustain nourishment and housing are, in fact, reminiscent of those trouble times from the past. The Great Depression began, essentially, around 1927. However, people did not realize that anything economically devastating was about to happen. People had been spending a lot more in recent years and cash and credit began to dwindle.

Soon employers had to begin laying off workers and a clear recession had begun. These issues contributed to the Great Depression on the domestic front, however, President Hoover felt that much of the cause for America’s financial crisis could be found in international affairs; because European credit and income was highly dependent on the United States, when the U.S. lessened European investments we lessened their demand for United States goods and services. That said, the America economy was plummeting and not improving.

The culmination of the Great Depression arrived on “Black Tuesday,” in October 29, 1929, when the stock market crashed and, both, individuals and companies, lost everything. During the 1929 election Hoover claimed that we would experience a “final triumph over poverty.”(Henretta et al. 2010) He initially adopted a “two-pronged strategy” that involved an ideology of volunteerism and more reliance and faith in the business industry; but his most notable initiative is the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, or RFC, which was based on a previous program developed during World War I, that granted government loans to businesses, railroads and financial institutions.

(Henretta et al. 2010) All of this was intended to boost faith in the business industry and encourage them to maintain the wages to their employees. In the end, America survived the Great Depression and managed to recover, and not just recover but flourish. BibliographyHenretta, James A. , and David Brody. "Modern Times: 1920-1932," in America: A Concise History, Volume 2: Since 1877. 4th ed., Boston: Bedfords/St. Martins, 2010.