Causes of the GD
What happened on Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929?
The stock market crashed
President Hoover did little to combat the Great Depression because he ran on a policy of letting the economy run its own course without interference from the government. What is this policy called?
Laissez-faire
One of the first things that FDR declared when he took office was a 'bank holiday'. What was this and why did he do it?
It shut down all the banks and would only allow the banks who were finacially stable to re-open. This would give Americans more confidence in banks.
What were "Recovery" programs all designed to do?
Get the economy back on its feet
What were Reform programs designed to do?
To set up safety nets in place to prevent another Depression-like event from happening in the future
This word literally means: to form a theory about. In investing, it means to predict that something will increase in value.
Speculation
This was the name given to the area in the middle of the country that suffered severe storms and drought during the Great Depression.
The Dust Bowl
What is a bank run?
When everyone rushes to the bank to pull out their money and the bank fails because it doesn't have everyone's money all at once.
The National Labor Relations Act, known as the Wagner Act, gave workers the right to form ______, to bargain collectively, and to submit their grievances to the National Labor Relations Board.
Unions
This act provides retirees with a steady flow of income so they do not need to worry about working in their final years
The Social Security Act
The Smoot-Hawley ______ raised customs duties on thousands of goods and contributed to a reduction of U.S. trade by more than half.
Tariff
This was the name given to the run-down shantytowns that many Americans were forced to live in during the Depression due to poverty.
Hoovervilles
This program built dams in a certain part of the country and provided electricity to one of the poorest parts of the country. It was controversial because the government was now competing with private power companies.
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
This program attempted to artificially raise the price of crops by paying farmers to grow less and thus increase the demand (and price) of the crops.
Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)
This agency was created to make sure banks had insurance, in case everyone tried to withdraw their money at once and cause the bank to fail. It's still around today. You'll hear it at the end of commercials: "Member _ _ _ _"
This is when someone purchases a stock by paying 10% out-of-pocket (with his/her own money) and 90% with borrowed money from the bank. This led to many risky investments being made in the 1920s.
Buying-on-margin
Who felt that Americans could rely on their "rugged individualism" to get through the depression? He felt Americans were resiliant enough to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and deal with the Depression without help from the government.
Herbert Hoover
This program from 1935 increased employment by creating new public works projects, such as building schools, roads and bridges, as well as creating murals and statues.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Despite FDR's Recovery programs, the U.S. _________ rate peaked in 1935 and never fully fell down to its pre-Depression rate until after the U.S. enters WWII.
Unemployment
This agency was created to monitor the stock market, prevent fraud and make sure everybody was playing by the rules. It's still around today
The Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC)
Explain how overproduction/underconsumption was one of the causes of the Great Depression
Manufacturers continued to make producting thinking people would continue to buy them, but by the end of the 1920s supply outweighed demand and manufactures had trouble selling their inventory.
What was the "Bonus Expeditionary Force" or "Bonus Army"? What did they want and what did they get?
WWI veterans who were promised to receive bonus money in 1935 but demanded it earlier due to the Depression. They were not given their money and Hoover used to army to disperse the veteran protestors.
This organization from 1933 gave outdoor jobs to young men, such as planting trees and draining swamps. Government jobs like these did not do much to help the economy but it gave workers a sense of dignity.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
This program was designed to help industry recover from the Depression by increasing prices and reducing wasteful competition. All businesses and companies in the same industry were asked to cooperate in drawing up a "code of fair practice"
National Recovery Act/Administration (NRA)
FDR received criticism for his "court-packing" plan in the 30s. What did he try to do and why was he criticized?
He tried to add 6 more Supreme Court justices that would pass the programs that Congress was shooting down. It seemed like he was trying to give himself more power to override the checks and balances system of the government