Question

Compare and contrast the causes and responses of the great depression in the usa and germany

Answer 1

The 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent „great depression‟ was the biggest economiccrisis that the world has experienced. The depth and length of the crisis and the suffering thatit caused is legendary. Therefore when the global financial crisis struck in 2007, many rushedto proclaim that we were about to experience another depression on a similar scale, or at leastwhat some havetermed a „great recession‟.This essay will compare and contrast the twoeconomic crises to analyse the key similarities and differences between the two. To do this,the essay will firstly provide an outline of the conditions that led to the 1929 crash in theeconomy. Moving on from here the essay will then look at the policy responses that wereimplemented to tackle the crisis before analysing the conditions that precipitated the 2007financial crisis and the policy responses, to draw out the similarities and differences of eachof the crises, and to ascertain were any lessons learned during the current global crisis fromthe policies of the great depression era. Finally the essay will conclude with a discussion of the main points raised by the analysis of both crises and a look at the future prospects for recovery.Capitalism is a system of economic development that has crises as an inherent feature. Manycrises have occurred both before and after the 1929 stock market crash, however the lengthand depth of the great depression has made it the point of reference for judging the severity of a financial crisis. Much debate has occurred over the causes of the great depression. Whilemany see the late October 1929 New York stock market crash as the defining feature of thecrisis, the reality was much more complex and multifaceted. As (Teichova 1990, p.8)suggests, the great depression was “the deepest, all embracing (agricultural, industrial,financial, social and political) and longest crisis with catastrophic consequences”. As well asthis, although the United States led the way, this crisis was global and the rest of the worldalso experienced depression. So, any analysis of the great depression must look at the variousfactors that caused and perpetuated it.The 1920s in America have been described as the roaring twenties. After the devastation of the first-world-war, during the 1920 to 1925 period US and international economies wereexperiencing a boom. During that period, world mining and manufacturing output grew bynearly twenty percent (McNally 2010, p.63). However,