All that Glitters Is Not Gold

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Herbert Hoover took office in 1929 with an abundance of optimism and the promise of a "New Day” for his American people. In his inaugural speech, he boasted, "In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure" and claimed, "Anyone not only can be rich, but ought to be rich." The American economy had blossomed like never before as Americans had become accustomed to living a healthy and comfortable lifestyle through the distribution of wealth, purchasing of stock, and installment buying. Americans from numerous social classes were now given a chance of living the “American dream.” However, these benefits, which improved lifestyle, promoted Americans to live beyond their means and produce an unstable economy. Therefore, on October 29th 1929, the worse economic downturn in America’s history occurred, known as the Great Depression. On this day, all of the nations development, everything that Herbert Hoover put into action to bring opulence, was washed away and dropped into an abyss of destitution. Thus, through attempts of trying to fortify the U.S economy, the benefits that were put in place in fact destabilized the economy setting the stage for the Great Depression.

The distribution of wealth established the stage for manufacturing outputs to decrease. The twenties represented a time with prompt urbanization, rising wealth and enhanced living standard. The industrialization, which took place after World War I, opened numerous jobs. People were, “Lured by the availability of jobs, excitement of city life, and advances in transportation, nearly 15 million people were added to the number of American urbanites between 1929 and 1930.”

The increase in jobs improved the average American’s GDP by 5.9 percent. Whilst the GDP ...

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...ess, created a vulnerable U.S economy leading to what no American would ever want to experience.

Works Cited

Christina D. Romer, “The Great Crash and the Onset of the Great Depression”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb. 1999, 322

Martha L. Olney,”Avoiding Default: the role of Credit in the Consumption Collapse of 1930”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics

Thomas E. Hall and David Ferguson, An international Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies, 1998, the University of Michigan Press, 29

Gary M. Walton and Hugh Rockoff, History of the American Economy, 10th edition, 2005, South-Western, 446

Matthews Layth, What Caused the Great Depression of the 1930’s, 2002

Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.: for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1989; Bartleby.com, 2001.

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