The Great Depression was a time of difficulty and stress for everyone. It was the biggest slump the economy had ever faced. The depression had adverse effects on the entire country. The stock market was disarrayed and people were chaotic. People were jobless and bankrupt forcing the economy to fall to shambles. Market crashes and the maldistribution of wealth, caused the American economy to decline.

The end of World War I welcomed a period of prosperity, which however resulted in the greatest recession the country has ever come across. Around 1922 the economy was booming. President Harding allowed taxes and federal spending to be cut. After President Harding's term was over Calving Coolidge stepped up, who proved to have a soft spot for business. Not only did he refuse to investigate monopolies but also chopped taxes for those who had high incomes with very little cuts for middle incomes. In 1924, after a decline in business, Reserve Banks created over $500 million in new money. Due to the fiscal policies, banks could lend over $4 billion. This humongous credit expansion was a great factor that led to the stock market crash in 1929 and the depression.

In 1934, Congress created the FCC, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Meditation Board, and passed the Securities and Exchange Act and the Trade Agreement Act. The combination of all the work done during the First 100 Days proved to be successful. The economy was on a rebound, the Gross National Product rose 7.7 percent and the unemployment finally fell to 21.7 percent.

With Hoover's low popularity, Roosevelt easily defeated him in the fall election. Roosevelt was a man who wanted to provide reliefs to the American people by getting over the depression, helping America recover from its downfall, and starting fresh. Roosevelt began the "First 100 days", which was a truly amazing accomplishment, that is exemplary even now.

After the stock market crash in October, Congress passed the Agricultural Market Act to help support the bankrupt farmers so they would not have to foreclose their farms. In February 1930, the Federal Reserve pitched in to help out the economy. It cut the prime interest rate from 6 to 4 percent, and made an important purchase of U.S. securities, which increased the money supply. Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve efforts only allowed very little money to the economy, until President Roosevelt entered office in 1933.

The increased manufacturing output throughout this period was a major reason for the growing gap amongst the classes. From 1923-1929 the average output per worker increased 32% in manufacturing, while average wages for manufacturing jobs increased only 8%. This means that wages rose at a rate of one fourth as fast as productivity. Therefore as production costs decreased, wages rose gradually, prices remained constant, and the bulk benefit of the increased productivity went into corporate profits. In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%. (Hicks 114)

In 1930 was when the first banks began to panic which caused the public to fear the safekeeping of their money. Therefore various lending houses resulted in bankruptcies. Due to the bankruptcies many financial institutions failed and the decrease of the public's deposits. The national money supply lessened due to these failures and deposit losses. The economy only got worse dur

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1511
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)