From the US crisis to the World crisis

« From the US crisis to the World crisis I/ A) Capitalism = golden age with the development of industrial society. It promised shareholders rapid gains and ever-rising share prices. 1920s, stock market prices = intense financial speculation. XX : the US = a dynamic country, but wealth poorly distributed. Industry was booming but American industry in a post-war overproduction Thursday 24 October 1929, NYSE + stock prices plummeted, speculative bubble burst + share prices fell by almost 29% in a few hours. Next day, investors withdrew their shares to avoid losing all their savings The crisis continued for a week = war expenses of 1st WW B) The financial crisis = repercussions: 9000 banks closing in the US = companies bankrupted A vicious circle began with massive layoffs and an increase of unemployed The absence of consumer spending in the US was accentuated by the protectionist policies. the country, focused on the domestic market, exported only a small proportion of its products to other industrialized countries +protectionism slowed the acquisition of foreign currency. economy = deflation: the value of goods plummeted, but there were no buyers for them. US = 13 million unemployed: undermining all confidence in politics and the economy. Republican President Herbert Hoover created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1932 to consolidate the American financial system but it.... »