What Caused The Great Depression

333 Words2 Pages
The Great Depression was the most devastating, long-lasting economic downturn in history. The Great Depression took place shortly after the stock market crashed in October of 1929. The economy shrank 50% in the first five years of the Great Depression. Unemployment skyrocketed throughout these 10 extremely rough years. This caused several banks to fail and a vast increase in homeless people and families. The economy began to shrink drastically around the month of August. The economy from entirely one based on the free market to a mixed market due to the government spending unnecessary money to try to bring success upon themselves. The pricing for houses plummeted 30%, and global trade soon collapsed after. Because of this, prices of products