Introduction

Abstract

The fateful days of the great stock market crash entered modern history almost 50 years ago to this day. The cyclic turning point of the U.S. economy occurred, however, around June 1929, and economic activity receded substantially over the subsequent months. The onset of an economic downswing thus became clearly visible before the famous crash. But the October event stays in the public’s mind as the symbol of the Great Depression. For nearly four years, until the spring of 1933, the U.S. economy plunged into a deep recession. Activity declined, prices fell, and there emerged a massive unemployment problem. The economy ultimately overcame this shock in 1933. Prices rose rapidly in spite of substantial margins of unusual resources. Activity expanded, but occasionally at a somewhat hesitant rate. The expansion, however, was interrupted by another recession of major proportions during 1937–38.