Regulation Of American Commercial Banks In The 1920's
After the end of World War I the Untied States entered a period of the Roaring Twenties. During the Roaring Twenties, production was high, spending was high, and the Stock market increased by over four hundred percent. By 1929, stocks were overpriced, factories were overproducing goods, and bad credit all climaxed with the collapse of the American economy. By the time the United States realized what was wrong the economy was plunging with no end in sight. In an attempt to prevent the collapse JP Morgan invested one hundred million dollars into the stock market to try and calm people and prevent selling.
In Addition to maldistribution stood the credit structure of the economy, some farmers were in deep land mortgage debt, so they lowered their crop prices in order to regain credit, and because the farmers were no longer accountable for what they owed banks. Across the nation the banking system found themselves in constant trouble. In America both small and large bankers were concerned for their survival, so they began investing recklessly in stock markets and granting unwise loans. These unconscious decisions would lead a large consequence, such as families losing their life savings and their deposits became uninsured. “ More than 9,000 American banks either went bankrupt or closed their doors to avoid bankruptcy between 1930 and 1933.”Although
1. National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 were attempts to assert some degree of federal control over the banking system without the formation of another central bank. The Act had consists three primary purposes such as (1) create a system of national banks, (2) to create a uniform national currency, and (3) to create an active secondary market for Treasury securities to help finance the Civil War (for the Union 's side).
The FDIC was created in 1933 in response to the thousands of bank failures that occurred in the 1920s and early 1930s. The FDIC was a provision of the Glass-Steagall Act. During the nine year period from 1921-1929 more than 600 banks failed each year. The failed banks were small banks operating in the rural suburban areas and held the deposits of mostly farmers and blue collar folks. When banks fold and continue to do so, people will start to worry about their money in any bank.
Although the 1920’s were booming and prosperous, the United States soon entered a prolonged economic depression. In October of 1929, prices in the stock market began an uneven downward slide (Document 2). As investors decided that the previous boom in the stock market was over, they sold more stock, thus causing the declination to increase even further. Many citizens of the United States were greatly affected by this. Families who had invested in stock lost most, if not all, or their life savings.
This being the cause of prices concerning stocks and shares to increase, to the point that it was nearly impossible to invest in the market. This being a factor in causing companies to terminate their employees swiftly, and if an individual remained employed, their wage decreased dramatically below the minimum wage. Many counterparts had invested in the stocks with loans or borrowed money, and when the market crashed, their share had been utterly wiped out, leaving them with absolutely no money. Individuals who had their money in banks, became skeptical of the banks and started to withdraw their money, to preserve their remaining savings. This, causing the banks to have to take out loans from bigger banks so that they could pay the individuals their money.
Before the Civil War most business that was conducted was done by free blacks. Free blacks living in the South often supplied enslaved blacks and other free blacks living in very low social economic situations with merchandise on a very small scale. For example, in 1833 Solomon Humphries owed a small grocery store in Macon, Georgia. He was worth about twenty thousand dollars and had more credit than anyone in town.
“The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange just after the crash of 1929”. In a single day, sixteen million shares were traded--a record--and thirty billion dollars vanished into thin air. (Cary Nelson). This ultimately led to the
During the 1920s, Americans wildly invested in the Wall Street stock market. Normal daily Americans became investors,
During the 1920’s there was a sense of a booming economy leading more people to buy on credit with the economy being stable. However after the stock market crash droves of people rushed to withdraw their money. This caused many problems for the banks as they had invested money into the stock market themselves, many closed down leaving millions questioning where their money had gone. This is the main reason people viewed banks as untrustworthy and feared giving them there hard earned money. This is why President Roosevelt created programs such as the FDIC to create a trust between the people and the government.
For example, In Document five it states that in 1929, a collapse of the American Prosperity happen. Which means people was putting a lot of their money into securities hoping to the make the stocks rise. People began gambling which made a lot of them go into debt (Harry J. Carman and Harold C. Syrett, A History of the American People, 1952). Also a lot of people were speculating, meaning investors was putting money towards stocks hoping to gain, but risking a loss. By 1931, six million Americans could not find work.
Due to the widespread panics that were causing banks to go out of business, banks were in need an emergency reserve so in times of panic. In 1907, the sever panic wreaked havoc on the banking system as the banks did not have enough supply to keep up with the demand of the withdrawals (In Plain English, n.d.). Wide spread panic in
FDR was looking forward into the future of the economy of the United States with this new policy developed and also with the creation of the FDIC or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was created in order to protect the money of the Americans in their certain choice of bank. One of the main and horrible effects of the Great Depression had on the American public was that all of the money that they had saved in back accounts were lost and couldn’t be replaced by the banks. A cruel way of loosing someones hard earnings and lifesavings. Which is why The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation), was created because what the FDIC did was that it protected the money of the customers if it was to ever get lost with a guarantee up to a quarter of a million.
During the Great Depression, banks were unregulated, free to manipulate and deceive their customers uncontested by the government. When the stock market crashed in 1929, hundreds of billions were lost. The billions of dollars lost during the Great Depression were lost because of the abusive banking institutes. The FDIC, aided the bank's customers, by applying an insurance-like policy. The FDIC was created to prevent the uncontrolled banks from robbing their customers, and insured their customers up to five thousand dollars.
And to cover up the expense the banks have to get the money from the interests they get on loans. The banks also gave loans to the stock market brokers and as the stock markets failed the bank couldn’t get the moneys back as a result they failed. And this bank failure along the stock market crash caused a great harm to the Us economy. During the mid 1920s the stock market went through
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