The Great Depression: A Structural Analysis
1972; Wiley; Volume: 4; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1991229
ISSN1538-4616
Autores Tópico(s)Economic Theory and Policy
ResumoDURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION, gross national product in real terms declined almost 30 percent, and money GNP fell over 45 percent. Private investment sank below the level needed for replacement. The effect on employInent was no less severe. Only 3.2 percent of the labor force was unemployed in 1929. Yet by 1933, one man out of every four who wanted work could not fvlnd it. Recovery from this shock was slow. Output regained its 1929 level in 1937, but at that time over 7.7 million people were still unemployed. By 1941, as the nation's war machine gathered itself into gear, 9.9 percent of the labor force remained without jobs. Despite its magnitude, economists have been reluctant to study this catastrophe. Although it is relatively easy to specify the half-dozen or so probable causes of the Depression, it is diffvlcult indeed to assess their relative contributions. A few scholars, to be sure, have isolated some particular economic magnitude whose path they claim is of paramount signifvlcance for 1lnderstanding the Depression. Yet their interpretations usually account poorly or not at all for other factors of plausible, if lesser, importance. The fvlrst aim of this paper therefore is to assess the relative potencies of several major causes of the Depression. A model of the economy will
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