The Great Recession

George Santayana, a Spanish poet and philosopher said, "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." This quote applies to the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008. There are many similarities between the two, like the causes, the actual events, and the aftermaths. Several factors led to the Great Depression, which were the following: overproduction by business and agriculture, unequal distribution of wealth, Americans buying less, and finally, the stock market crash of 1929. The Great Recession also had similar factors leading to it, like the housing “bubble” burst and less consumer spending. In both events, the Presidents enacted programs that they believed would help the American people.

In the early 1920s, overproduction affected American farmers. New farming methods led to higher food production; however, they were competing against farmers from other countries. Due to this, a global excess of agricultural products, decreased profits and prices. Many farmers could not make money off of their crops, so they also could not pay back loans from the bank. This weakened banks and forced them to close. In addition, American factories were making most of the world’s goods. There were large profits being made, but there was an unequal distribution of wealth, which made the rich, richer and the poor, poorer. The richest percent of the people were given thirty three percent of all personal income. The middle class did not exist. About forty percent of the U.S. population was never impacted by the Great Depression because they had money. Since most of the families had no money to buy goods, store owners had to reduce their orders from the factories. Due to this, factories had to fire workers and decrease...

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... the effects of the Recession. Many people still believe that we are in a recession today. They are still feeling the effects because they are in upside down home loans, unemployed, and depend on the government to get by in life.

In conclusion, the Great Depression and Great Recession were very similar to each other. Their causes both included unequal distribution of wealth and less consumer spending. They were very similar to each other because they were both worldwide depressions. Banks failed all around the world. Their aftermaths were also similar because they both had to make higher taxes, and unemployment rates increased. In both events, the high unemployment rates were the main results that affected the American people. Future politicians shall study their history. Knowing our history is important. We need to learn from it so we do not repeat our mistakes.