Great Depression

noun

1. the economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock-market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930s.

Depression, Great

1. The great slowdown in the American economy, the worst in the country's history, which began in 1929 and lasted until the early 1940s. Many banks and businesses failed, and millions of people lost their jobs. (See Dust Bowl; fireside chats; Hoovervilles; New Deal; Okies; Franklin D. Roosevelt; and stock market Crash of 1929.)

Example Sentences

The truth is that the stock-market crash did not inaugurate the Great Depression, nor did people at the time believe that it did.

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After a Great Depression decade, policymakers wanted continued government spending to avoid another downturn.

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The current merry-go-round was built in 1926 and relocated to Griffith Park in the depths of the Great Depression in 1937.

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That version of the Fed proved unequal to managing macroeconomic policy as the Great Depression deepened.

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The Reconstruction Finance Corporation during the Great Depression similarly took preferred shares in banks, helping stabilize the financial system while maintaining private operations.

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When To Use

When and what was the Great Depression?

The Great Depression was a worldwide economic crisis that lasted for much of the 1930s. It heavily impacted the United States, where millions of people faced unemployment, homelessness, and poverty.In economics, a depression is a period during which business, employment, and stock market values fall to very low levels for a significant amount of time (typically more than three years). The Great in Great Depression refers to the fact that it was the worst depression in U.S. history.The start of the Great Depression is often cited as the U.S. stock market crash of 1929, but its causes are complex. Its effects were also complex and widespread and are still discussed. Some can even be seen today in the form of government programs and agencies created to address the crisis at the time.