Unemployment In The Great Depression

World War II is a great example of how war helped the US strengthen their economy because ending the policy of isolationism and joining the war ended the Depression. In the 1940’s, when the US was isolated from the rest of the world due to the Great Depression,

Instead, most money was in the hands of a few families and businesses who saved or invested rather than spent their money on American goods. Supply became greater than demand on products. Certain people profited, but many others did not. As a result of this, prices went up and Americans could not spare the money for many goods. While the wealth in America was not being distributed evenly, and overspeculation of the stock market led to a lack of confidence, the United States began to fall into a deep depression that would last until the beginning of World War II (Gupta).

Companies that were going bankrupt months before were now literally begging for labourers and some even suffered from a shortage of workers. This was mainly due to the rapid production levels the country needed to produce military equipment including ammunition and vehicles etc. A short time after the U.S. declaration of war, the unemployment rate dropped a massive ten per cent from its previous amount. After taxes, business profits almost doubled and industrial output increased massively at 96 per cent. Government expenditure also sored dramatically to 53 per cent of GDP at its peak in 1945, in comparison to around 20 per cent of GDP previous to the war. This contributed to business recovery and gave companies the kick start they needed. Due to productivity doubling, consumer goods also expanded. The war consumed one third of industrial output and this ensured a constant supply of goods, the U.S being the only country with a significant rise in supply despite rationing. Wages also rose 50 per cent higher by 1944, this was a combination of over-time pay and wage increases etc.

The Great Depression was caused by the stock market crash in 1929. The Great Depression was very sad time for Americans, who faced many adversities which ultimately changed the way they lived. During this period of time unemployment rose to nearly 25% of the population, those who did not lost their job saw a dramatic decrease in their pay.

There are some main causes The great depression, first in 1934 per week They made $ 4.80 per week and They paid $ 3 by The incomes of Their Homes, all that happened to Birmingham Alabama in 1934, in Chicago everything rises for The men and The women for the food , And then spent $ 1.10 that was spent on food in stores, The three cases are The three cases were The financial downfall, low wages, and unemployment.

After coming out of the Great Depression the United States could not afford to be in anymore debt. From purchasing guns, ammunitions, aircrafts, and warships, the debt was rising dramatically. While the American public supported the troops, the cost of the war would affect America for years to come.

It is a known fact that war causes inflation which makes the prices of everything go higher as well as taxes. After World War I instead of going back down the prices continued to rise which helped to contribute to the deep depression felt during the Great Depression.

Soon after the war was over, the men came back and needed jobs back. Many people who had taken jobs during the war were fired and former workers tried to get their jobs back. Though America was no longer facing an economic depression, the country was in even more debt than

The American economy thrived tremendously after World War II. During this time, more families were able to be considered middle class, thus enhancing our economy. It gave opportunities for families to move up economic classes in order to improve their wealth. The distribution of wealth evened out because of this concept. The programs and situations that concern to expanding the economy were the defeat of Japan and Germany, Baby Boom, GI Bill, Levittown, and Interstates. Furthermore, the programs and situations that concern to wealth distribution were Baby Boom, GI Bill, Levittown, Unions, and Interstates.

On December 7, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan, and subsequently caused the rest of the Axis powers to declare war on them, engaging America in World War II. This led to massive change in the American lifestyle, as industry began maximizing production to supply the military with war supplies. As a result, the gap in American employment that was created by the Great Depression was quickly filled, in a race to occupy the large amount of new jobs which sprung up. Along with this, the need to get workers to meet the rate of production needed to win the war led the government to “increase

In the end, it was World War II that brought us out of the Great Depression. With war at hand, the government began pumping massive amounts of money into the economy. Production and inflation increased. More jobs were available and wages rose. At the

Before World War I, the United States was in a period of isolationism, and a determination to stay out of European wars and affairs, while trying to maintain its status as one of the world’s biggest superpowers, militarily and economically (“United States Before”). America was just exiting the Gilded Age, which was an important time of growth and prosperity. Despite this, the American economy was in a small recession when entering the war, which was reversed by a 44 month period of growth caused by production for the war (NBER). This 44 month period helped the economy expand, and furthered the strength of the country. It also furthered the confidence of American businesses and the government which contributed to the attitude that caused overconfidence and helped to spread the Great Depression.

In the economic aspect, the war ended the Great Depression. (Winkler,1986) In 1940, money was being spent to aid the war effort and in return boosted the American economy. (Winkler,1986) The production of war necessities such as weapons opened up door for the unemployed. (Winkler,1986) Millions of unemployed Americans returned to work to make the weapons of war needed to protect the United States. (Winkler,1986) “During the war 17 million new civilian jobs were created, industrial productivity increased by 96 percent, and corporate profits after taxes doubled.” (Goodwin,1992) War needs directly consumed over one-third of the output of industry causing a slight decrease in consumer goods production. (Goodwin,1992) U.S economy converted to wartime production therefore most consumer goods were

Ah yes the million-dollar question, did WWII end the Great Depression. To answer this and have a consensus of global economist might just earn this MAH student a Nobel Peace Prize. There is no doubt that the Great Depression ended with the ending of WWII, not the beginning. Therefore, I would say that it is a safe to support the theory that yes, WWII ended the Great Depression. Clearly, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policy of government spending and John Maynard Keynes tax and spend economic theory was not working. Yet, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was certainly willing to try Keynesian economics in an effort to jump-start the sluggish American economy, between 1929 and 1939.

By the end of the war, the amount of currency in circulation had increased 400%. Although one might expect the price level to have increased by about the same amount, it was actually only about 140% higher than it was at the beginning of the war. This was due to the fact that, at first, people thought price increases were due to shortages and were waiting for prices to fall to make purchases. However, as soon as they realized the rise in prices was due not only to goods being less available, but also to inflation of the money supply, they began to spend at faster and faster rates.