NOTE: I do plan to get all those quizzes we've been taking graded and on PowerSchool over the weekend.
Today, we'll hold our simulated "World Economic Conference" with two objectives. First, we'll try to determine the major causes of the Great Depression. Second, we'll turn our attention to our present economic situation and try to figure out whether we are headed for another depression. You'll play a key role in both of these conversations.
Causes of the Great Depression - You were assigned to one of five groups, depending on the color handout you received. Today, we'll hear your group presentations. Remember that it is your responsibility to make the argument that "your" cause was the most significant cause of the Great Depression.
Here are the causes:
- reparation payments and war debts
- overproduction in agriculture
- stock market crash
- inequitable income distribution
- protectionism
Historian John Garraty - "The Great Depression of the 1930s was a worldwide phenomenon composed of an infinite number of separate but related events."
- "Echoes of the Great Depression"
- "A new Great Depression? It's different this time"
- "Compare: The Great Depression and Today's Dominoes"
- "Is today's economic crisis another Great Depression?"
- How would you describe the overall tone of your article?
- What current trends and/or conditions are similar to those leading up to the Great Depression?
- What current trends and/or conditions are significantly different than those preceding the Great Depression?
- Realistically, what is the best case scenario for the world economy?
- What do you feel is the worst case scenario for the world economy?
