HIST 12B Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Emergency Banking Act, Investment Banking
Document Summary
The road to serfdom: cold war liberalism, and the birth of neoliberal thought. What is particular about the great depression was its severity and its length. That"s not to say it was the first global depression, but it was the first significant global depression. It started in the us, but it spread to europe and the rest of the world. Small (rural) banks failing because of foreclosures and defaults. Big banks investing recklessly in the stock market. Relative overproduction caused by lack of purchasing power (neither farmers nor most workers could afford to buy things on the market; half the families lived on the edge or below the minimal living level. ) The companies increased their capacities to produce, so they could produce more, a lot more quickly, but they didn"t have people to buy the products. Surplus occurred and the industries began to decline.
