The cost of the Great Depression between 1929 and 1942 was a loss of:Question 18Select one:a.more than the United States ultimately spent on World War II.b.over $15 trillion in today's dollars.c.the output that otherwise would have been produced by the 50 percent of the nation's workers who had lost their jobs.d.both B and C are true.

All of these observations support the "spending hypothesis" explanation of the Great Depression EXCEPT that:the money supply fell by 25 percent from 1929 to 1933, during which time the official unemployment rate rose from 3 percent to 25 percent.the stock market crash of 1929 reduced real wealth.widespread bank failures occurred.investment in housing declined.

The Great Depression lasted from 1929-1945, and was the most prolonged and severe economic depression in American history. As the effects of the Depression spread across the US economy, millions of people lost their jobs. By 1930 there were 4.3 million unemployed; by 1931, 8 million; and in 1932 the number had risen to 12 million. By early 1933, almost 13 million were out of work and the unemployment rate stood at an astonishing 25%. Those who managed to retain their jobs often took pay cuts of a third or more. Unemployed Americans filled long breadlines, begged for food, or sold apples on street corners. A Chicago social worker wrote “We saw Want and Despair walking the streets, and our friends, sensible, thrifty families, reduced to poverty.” More than a third of the nation’s banks failed in the three years following 1929 because they had no cash. Long lines of desperate people outside banks hoping to retrieve their savings were common. Many ordinary citizens lost their life savings when banks failed. Thousands were evicted from their homes and lived on the streets, begging for food and work.Farmers were hit particularly hard by the crisis. Farmland across the Midwest, once seen as part of the American Dream during Westward Expansion, had been over-farmed to produce record numbers of crops. Lacking nutrients, the soil became dry, dusty, and unusable, and too many crops on the market meant prices drastically fell. On top of falling prices for crops, a devastating drought coupled with wind storms in Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas brought on a series of dust storms known as the Dust Bowl. In the South, sharecroppers—both white and black—endured crushing poverty and almost unimaginable degradation. African Americans suffered significantly higher levels of unemployment than whites due to pervasive racism. Farmers and their families became migrant workers, wandering the country and “riding the rails” (trains) in search of food, housing, and work, with many traveling west to California.The financial crisis was not limited to the United States. Countries in Europe and around the world experienced the depression. Hitler’s rise to power in Germany was fueled in part by the economic slowdown, and throughout the 1930s international tensions increased as the global economy declined.QUESTION 310 pointsDescribe one impact of the Great Depression that was especially interesting to you and explain why.

How did the economic impacts of the Great Depression differ in the United States and in the Soviet Union?A.The United States instituted government regulation of business, while the Soviet Union did not.B.The United States suffered from high unemployment, while the Soviet Union did not.C.The United States borrowed money to fund government spending, while the Soviet Union did not.D.The United States eliminated all tariffs on foreign goods, while the Soviet Union did not.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

What were the impacts of the Great Depression on the United States? A.Increased economic growth and prosperityB.High unemployment and bank failuresC.Increased military spending and global dominanceD.Improved social welfare and education.

How did World War II affect the economy of the United States?A.The United States experienced an economic boom that contributed to its rise as the world's prominent economy.B.The value of the U.S. economy became dependent on the repayment of large war bonds from other countries.C.The control of the U.S. economy shifted from complete government oversight to input from private industry.D.The United States was driven into a decade of economic depression because of the costs of the war.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS