Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
The video, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime,” gives a good example of market failure in the economy. The video shows how demand and supply are affected. We see how an economy can be booming one minute, and then it all come crashing down the next. We are shown how people can be caught up in the good times, only to have to face dark times to come.
The video begins on July 28, 1932 with the Bonus Army of ex-servicemen asking the government for their bonus checks. These checks were not due to be distributed until 1945. These servicemen had fought in the World War I and had nothing left. They had no jobs and had lost everything during this dark time in history. They were stopped from marching to Washington by the police, and current servicemen were brought in to help stop them. They did not understand how the economy had been so good, but now they had nothing.
Back in the 1860’s the economy begin to build up until the Great Depression. The country was abundant in many resources such as energy, coal, labor, and oil. There were few trade unions around, and immigrants provided cheap labor. It was said that anyone could be a millionaire if they just worked hard enough. Confidence was building up in the economy.
On July 28, 1914, World War I began in Europe. European industrial jobs were taken over. This war made America strong and Europe poorer. America was able to sell goods worldwide without having to worry about competition. This continued to boost the economy. We start to see in the video the effects of supply and demand in the economy.
After the war ended in 1918, the economy continued to grow. In 1920, great wealth was starting to show in the economy. Huge booms were experienced in the automobile, electricity, chemical industries. The motorcar was a major influence in building up other industries. Radio sales jumped way up, which in