economic depression

(noun)

In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle.

Related Terms

  • political realignment
  • regulation

Examples of economic depression in the following topics:

  • The Panic of 1837

    • The financial crisis of 1837 was based on speculative fever and contributed to a five-year economic depression.
    • The Panic was followed by a five-year economic depression fraught with bank failure and unprecedented unemployment levels.
    • The Panic of 1837 was influenced by the economic policies of President Jackson.
    • In particular, the publishing industry suffered greatly due to the ensuing depression.
    • Whig cartoons depicted the economic challenges caused by the Panic of 1837.
  • Keynesian Theory

    • Keynesian economics states that in the short-run, economic output is substantially influenced by aggregate demand.
    • In economics, the Keynesian theory was first introduced by British economist John Maynard Keynes in his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money which was published in 1936 during the Great Depression .
    • Excessive saving, saving beyond investment, is a serious problem that encouraged recession and even depression.
    • Overcoming an economic depression requires economic stimulus, which could be achieved by cutting interest rates and increasing the level of government investment.
    • The Keynesian School of economic thought emphasized the need for government intervention in order to stabilize and stimulate the economy during a recession or depression.
  • The Great Depression and the New Deal

    • The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936 in response to the Great Depression.
    • The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II.
    • It was the longest, most widespread, and deepest depression of the 20th century.
    • The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1936.
    • Describe the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration's economic response to it in the New Deal, and its lasting effects
  • The Great Depression

    • The Great Depression was the result of an untimely collision of negative economic factors that began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide.
    • Speculation thus fueled further rises and created an economic bubble.
    • The decline in stock prices caused bankruptcies and severe macroeconomic difficulties, including contraction of credit, business closures, firing of workers, bank failures, decline of the money supply, and other economic depressing events.
    • International credit structure was another cause of the Depression.
    • The result was a Great Depression that showed the vast impact a nation’s economic health has on its overall wellbeing and the immense human toll such an event can cause.
  • A Halfway Revolution

    • Roosevelt came to office in 1933 amid the economic calamity of the Great Depression, offering the nation a New Deal intended to alleviate economic desperation and joblessness, provide greater opportunities, and restore prosperity.
    • The Great Depression dragged on through the early and middle 1930s, showing signs of relief later in the decade, though full recovery didn't come until the total mobilization of U.S. economic, social, and military resources for the Allied cause in World War II.
    • The New Deal programs to relieve the Depression are generally regarded as a mixed success in ending the nation's economic problems on a macroeconomic level.
    • Still, although fundamental economic indicators may have remained depressed, the programs of the New Deal were extremely popular, as they improved the life of the common citizen, by providing jobs for the unemployed, legal protection for labor unionists, modern utilities for rural America, living wages for the working poor, and price stability for the family farmer.
    • Social welfare programs were virtually non-existent until the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the implementation of the New Deal programs in response to the Great Depression.
  • The New Deal

    • The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted between 1933-1936 in response to the Great Depression.
    • The New Deal was a series of economic programs enacted in the U.S. between 1933 and 1936 that involved presidential executive orders passed by Congress during the first term of President Franklin D.
    • The programs were a response to the Great Depression.
    • Roosevelt entered office with no specific set of plans for dealing with the Great Depression.
    • The First New Deal dealt with diverse groups that needed help for economic survival, from banking and railroads to industry and farming.
  • Fours Schools of Economic Thought: Classical, Marxian, Keynesian, and the Chicago School.

    • Mainstream modern economics can be broken down into four schools of economic thought: classical, Marxian, Keynesian, and the Chicago School.
    • Mainstream modern economics can be broken down into four schools of economic thought:
    • Classical economics, also called classical political economy, was the original form of mainstream economics in the 18th and 19th centuries.
    • A final school of economic thought, the Chicago School of economics, is best known for its free market advocacy and monetarist ideas.
    • Ben Bernanke, current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is among the significant public economists today that generally accepts Friedman's analysis of the causes of the Great Depression.
  • Hoover and the Limits of Individualism

    • Hoover carried his "rugged individualism" into the Great Depression, believing that the government shouldn't interfere.
    • It refers to the idea that individuals should be able to help themselves, and that the government does not need to involve itself in people's economic affairs or in national economics in general.
    • Hoover emphasized that rugged individualism was not laissez-faire, and that it in fact denounced laissez-faire economics.
    • Hoover entered office with a plan to reform the nation's regulatory system, holding that a federal bureaucracy should have limited regulation over a country's economic system.
    • Hoover carried his idea of "rugged individualism" into the Great Depression, insisting that the federal government should not interfere with the American people during the economic crisis.
  • Income Security Policy

    • The approach to economic policy in the United States was rather laissez-faire until the Great Depression.
    • The government tried to stay away from economic matters as much as possible and hoped that a balanced budget would be maintained.
    • The Great Depression struck countries in the late 1920s and continued throughout the entire 1930s.
    • In an attempt to fix these economic problems, the United States federal government passed a series of costly economic stimulus and bailout packages.
    • Analyze the transformation of American fiscal policy in the years of the Great Depression and World War II
  • Hooverville

    • Homelessness exploded during the Great Depression resulting in the massive outgrowth of shanty towns, called in that period ‘Hoovervilles'.
    • "Hooverville" was the popular name for shanty towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression.
    • They were bitingly named after Herbert Hoover, then President of the United States, because he had allegedly allowed the nation to slide into depression.
    • Homelessness was present before the Great Depression, with homeless people being a fairly common sight in the 1920s.
    • But the economic downturn greatly increased the numbers and concentrations in urban settlements, nearby soup kitchens and other charitable organizations.
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