D. The economic system was on the verge of collapsing.
Explanation: In 1933, the developed world was still experiencing the Great Depression which had started in 1929. During the Great Depression, banks were failing and by 1933, half of the banks had failed. Investment was at an all time low, which resulted in falling production and unemployment. A combination of these factors meant that the economic system was on the verge of collapsing.
This was corrected when Roosevelt was elected president, and passed legislation to revive the economy.
After the crash of 1929, it was very difficult for banks to mantain the level of productivity, which caused severe losses to them. This led to a massive bank suspension. By 1931 over 2000 banks were suspended with was known as the highest suspension rate recorded in the St. Louis federal Reserve: 2 out of five banks were.
A year later, in 1933, the number had grown to 9000 closed banks.
