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Great Depression

In: Historical Events

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Historical Example of Labor Supply and Demand
Kaylin West
XECO 212
August 23, 2013
Roger Pae

Historical Example of Labor Supply and Demand
The Great Depression started in 1929 ending ten years later in 1939. The Great Depression was known as the deepest and longest-lasting economic downfall in the history of the Western industrialized world. The Great Depression began after the stock market crashed in October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Several years passed where the consumer spending and investments dropped causing steep declines in the industrial output making employment rise. In 1933, the Great Depression had reached its lowest point and thirteen to fifteen million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of the country’s banks had failed. (The Great Depression, 2013)
Prior to the Great Depression farms and factories produced large amounts of goods and products for the American people. On average people wages stayed the same even as prices for these goods soared. People who lived and worked on farms had even less than the people who lived in urban areas. When the Great Depression started the farms were the ones who were hit the hardest with the fall of economic times. People did not have money so they stopped buying products but farms were still producing at the same rate. As the farmers realized less people were buying, they cut back production and had to lay off employees. The layoffs continued until a twenty-five percent of the population was unemployed. (Levine, 2009)
By 1933, twenty five percent of workers and thirty-seven percent of non farmers were unemployed with more to come. The Great Depression caused a decrease in population as some people starved to death and many committed suicide. Many lost their homes and farms and became homeless. Many people had heard that if they traveled to

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