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Wall Street Crash

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THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE WALL STREET CRASH
AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The economic boom of the 1920’s came to a sudden end in October 29, 1929. In June 1929 prices of stocks and shares had reached new highs. The Stock Market seemed to be a quick and easy way to get rich. The Stock Market is the place where stocks are traded. More and more people wanted to ‘play the market’ (Buy and sell stocks). [pic]
The Wall Street stock market (located in New York City) was not regulated .Anybody could buy shares and they could be bought ‘on the margin’-This is when the stock broker and the stock holder merge their money to buy stocks, for example, people could buy $1000 worth of stocks for only $100 and borrowed the rest from stockbroker. Buying on the margin became a common practice. People waited for the share prices to go up again and then resold their shares for a profit. It was usually easy to pay back the loan and still make money.

The day of the crash: By the summer of 1929 there were 20 million shareholders in America and prices continued to rise. But in October 1929, things began to change. Some people realized that share prices had risen too high and wanted to sell before they fell.

THE CAUSES OF THE WALL STREET CRASH

1. OVERPRODUCUCTION- New mass-production methods and mechanization
Meant that production of consumer goods had expanded enormously. In fact, there was overproduction (more being made than could be consumed).The market was becoming saturated. There were simply too many goods and not enough buyers.

2. POVERTY- The new found wealth of the 1920’s was not shared by everyone. Almost 50 per cent of American families had an income less than $2000 a year –a level which purchased only the bare necessities of life. The major groups who were living in a state of poverty were: Farmers, Blacks and New Immigrants.

A.

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