Great Depression Essays (621 words) - Financial Crises,

Great Depression The Great Depression took place from 1930 to 1939. During this time the prices of stock fell 40%. 9,000 banks went out of business and 9 million savings accounts were wiped out. 86,00 businesses failed, and wages were decreased by an average of 60%. The unemployment rate went from 9% all the way to 25%, about 15 million jobless people. The economic expansion of the 1920s, with its increased production of goods and high profits, culminated in immense consumer speculation that collapsed with disastrous results in 1929 causing Americas Great Depression. There were a number or contributing factors to the depression, with the largest and most important one being a general loss of confidence in the American economy. The reason it escalated was a general misunderstanding of recessions by American policymakers of the time. The U.S. economy was booming in the 1920s. Stocks prices soared, as they were bought on margin for as little as 10% down. Market speculation is cyclical-that is, if one st ock appears profitable, you buy it, which causes the price to rise and others to buy as well. However, the economy was not stable. National wealth was not distributed evenly. Instead, most money was in the hands of a few families who saved or invested rather than spent their money on American goods. Thus, supply was greater than demand, and some people profited, but others did not. As such, the bubble had to inevitably burst, since the stock market boom was very unsteady and people borrowed money on false optimism. Black Tuesday in 1929 was that bubble burster. In the summer of 1929, a few stock market investors began selling their stock. They predicted that the bull market might end soon, leaving them in debt. Seeing these few investors begin to sell, others soon followed to minimize their losses, creating a domino effect, which exacerbated the situation. Regardless of the governments attempt to place the modern equivalent of tens of billions of dollars into certain banks, the liqu idation continued, as folks wanted out quickly at whatever cost. Many people lost as much as ten times their initial investment, which shook consumer confidence. In an effort to cover their margins, people rushed the banks in masses, demanding their money. Soon, banks began to run out of cash and went bust. With the economy falling in shambles and companies defaulting on loans, nearly all private and corporate investment ceased. Companies couldnt afford to expand, and in fact, many had to consolidate in order to cover the margins on their loans. This meant postponing hiring and laying workers off, which caused unemployment to skyrocket. With people now willing to work for less money, wages lessened too. At the same time prices rose in an attempt by companies to make some amount of profit off the goods. Because the governments prevailing economic theory was based on laissez-faire economics, the government believed that recessions were self-correcting. Eventually unemployment and infl ation stopped declining, but not before the U.S. lost 1/3 of its output and 25% of the workforce was unemployed. 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 wars end there was a brief recession while the economy reacted to a loss of the money the government had been pumping in, but the big picture demonstrated American optimism for victory was high, and as such the faith of Americans in their country followed their increased patriotism. The market had finally corrected. Arts Essays

The Rise of the Roman Senate essays

The Rise of the Roman Senate essays The history of the Roman Senate can be broken up into three parts. The first part is the Senate in the early times of Rome. The second part is the Senate during the later Republic. Finally, the third part is the Senate in the first century. These three parts show how the Roman Senate went from a respectful power to a corrupt power. Rome's early government was a monarchy. A monarchy is a government in which the supreme power is actually lodged in a monarch, or king. This monarchy led the way for the coming oligarchy. An oligarchy is a form of government where the power is given to a few people or a dominant class. This oligarchy was removed by a democracy. A democracy is a form of government where the supreme power is given to the people. Whoever studies the history of Rome will come to realize that the reason for the rise of the Roman civilization was due to the senatorial authority. There was a dual government between prince and Senate, which developed into the Empire. During the Empire, when all the power was in the hands of the Emperor, the Senate kept a tradition of respect for the people. Although there is much information on the history of the Roman Senate, we are only going to cover the Senate in the early times of the Roman Empire. This paper will attempt to show how the Senate dominated the Roman government and became a great force during the Early Republic. The origin of the Senate can be attributed to the beginning period when each clan in Latium was under the rule of its own Elder. As the clans merged, the position of each Elder was lower to that of the king of the community. As soon as Romulus, the founder of Rome, was elected king, he took a council of advisors called the senatus, or elders, into his trust. The term of office for the first senators was for life. When a senator died, the king chose a man from the same group to take his place. The senators were considered as so many kings from the whole co...

Was the Second Republic always destined to loose the war conflict in Research Paper

Was the Second Republic always destined to loose the war conflict in the Spanish Civil War - Research Paper Example The Spanish civil war started with a military revolution. The long history of intervention of military power and control in Spain has affected the political life of the country to great extent. The revolution of 17th July of 1936 became an intense one and used old instruments for the purpose of making significant political changes in the country. Josà © Sanjurjo was the leader of that time of the Second Spanish Republic. A group of generals who were under the leadership of Josà © Sanjurjo started the war through declaration of opposition. This opposition was declared against the government, against the President of that time Manuel Azaà ±a. Several conservative groups (most important of these groups were Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right) have supported this coup and created the revolution a significant revolution in the country. This revolution was the war between the new and the old. The war was against the democratic government of Spain which was ruling the country during 1930s. The war came to an end with the triumph of the Nationalists, more importantly conservative Nationalists. In this way the Second Spanish Republic came to an end in the 1st April, 139 when they were defeated by conservative Nationalists . This paper is aimed at describing a critical context of the loss of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. It tries to answer the question, â€Å"Was the Second Republic always destined to loose the war conflict in the Spanish Civil War?† The background of the Spanish Civil War: The Spanish Civil War was a war in regard to the revolution of conservative nationalists against the democratic government of the country. ... This revolution was the war between the new and the old. The war was against the democratic government of Spain which was ruling the country during 1930s. The war came to an end with the triumph of the Nationalists, more importantly conservative Nationalists. In this way the Second Spanish Republic came to an end in the 1st April, 139 when they were defeated by conservative Nationalists1. This paper is aimed at describing a critical context of the loss of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War. It tries to answer the question, â€Å"Was the Second Republic always destined to loose the war conflict in the Spanish Civil War?† The background of the Spanish Civil War: The Spanish Civil War was a war in regard to the revolution of conservative nationalists against the democratic government of the country. The war began as military revolution and then it became the revolution of every citizen of the country and created significant political changes in the country. One of the most important features of this change was the demolition of the democratic government of the country and demolition of the Second Spanish Republic. At the time of revolution the country was facing several internal conflicts related to political, social, cultural and also to economic contexts. Various small revolts were going on in the country by reformists and conservative Nationalists. With the establishment of Spanish Constitution in 1812 the monarchy of the ancient regime has been abolished. This change led to the establishment of a compatible state with more ideologically constructed nature. After the creation of the Spanish Constitution and before