Causes of the Great Depression Following trading in late 20?s became as popular as following sports Prices exceeded rate of industrial productions On paper, people were very successful, but in reality, there was no real value People bought on margin Bull market peaked in September of 1929 Oct 23, 1929: Dow Jones lost 21 points in one hour -> investors thought boom was over Oct 29, 1929: ?Black Tuesday?- more than 16 mil shares were traded as panic took over No one thought Depression would follow. Many saw potential benefits Production had been accelerated to the extent that it was hard to adjust to the drop off Most of the wealth in the US was clustered at the top (wealthy and poor. That?s it) Everyone began saving their money -> no consumer spending