The Dirty 30s

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the business/economic cycle and how it relates to the depression

• Understand the causes of the Depression and how they affected citizens on an individual, provincial and national scale

30s Slang

• Are you ‘blowing your wig’ to learn about the 30s?!

• Tell me your name, and something about yourselves using the slang sheet provided

The Depression

• What do you already know about it?• How does it vary from a recession?

Defining an economic depression

• “In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as inevitable part of capitalist economy”

• To have a depression, there must be a market economy

The Economic/Business Cycle

• Economic downturns are a regular part of market economies

• Can be described as the natural fluctuation of expansion and contraction in the economy

• Some economic indicators of the cycle’s current stage:– Employment levels– Consumer spending– Interest rates– Quarterly national income

Causes of the Depression in Canada

Group Activity• You will divided into 6 groups, each

researching 1 cause of the Great Depression in Canada

• Use the internet and your text books to briefly outline the cause you were given

• When I come to your cause in the slideshow, you will, in 1 minute, outline your cause and its implications for the economy and the lives of Canadian citizens.

• You may present it however you wish

Overproduction and Stockpiling• industries spent $ on expansions in the 20s to

keep up to the increase in demand• Manufacturers made product faster than it

was sold • Products were stockpiled • Production decreased• Workers were laid off• Workers that were laid off spent less $$,

decreasing demand

Reliance on Staple Product Exports

• Canada relied heavily on a few key exports eg. Wheat, newsprint, fish, minerals

• Other countries started producing the same crops– Large quantity of crops went unsold– Demand decrease = price decrease

Dust Bowls

• A long, severe drought hit the prairies in the 30s

• Inadequate amounts of water and poor, windy conditions made it difficult to grow crops

Dust Bowls

"I'd rub vaseline into my nostrils. Yes, vaseline, good old drug store vaseline. This stopped the dust from blowing into your nose. It was supposed to stop dust pneumonisa, stopping the dust from getting into your lungs. That killed people, you know. So there I was, with my Jesse James mask and my nostrils half plugged with vaseline, hoeing away, but it never was any use. Everything just grew a little and then died."

Economic Dependence on the USA

• The Depression hit the USA• The USA was Canada’s biggest trading partner– Canada relied heavily on imports from USA (65%)– Canada relied heavily on exporting to USA (40%)

Stock Market Speculation & Crash

• The stock market crashed on Black Tuesday (October 29, 1929)– Did not directly affect everybody, but triggered other

factors contributing to The Depression• "The Crash, the loss of millions and millions of dollar

on the stock market, didn't touch us. We didn't have stocks. Our stocks and bonds were our land and our kids.“

• The fact that this happened meant there was already something wrong with the system

How a Stock Market Works

• Companies can sell stocks or shares to people (investors) who can own part of their company

• The value of these stocks increases or decreases depending on the company’s success

• Investors and companies can lose or gain money, depending on when they sell their stocks

Where it all Went Wrong

• Stocks started to fall and investors panicked, all trying to sell their stocks quickly, until they were worth nothing– worth of products dropped significantly

• Many investors had bought stocks with bank loans– Bank loaned money they did not own

Protectionism, Tariffs and the Trade Collapse

• Tariffs: a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country

• Protectionism: the system of imposing duties on imports into a country in order to protect domestic industries

Protectionism and Tariffs Trade Collapse

• When the Depression hit the USA and Canada, they both put high tariffs on imports, to reduce competition for their industries

• The exports to the USA that Canada relied on were now very expensive in a time when Canadians had even less to spend

• High tariffs, combined with increased competition for resource production with other countries near standstill in world trade

The Trade Collapse and WWI Debts

• After the war, the USA lent money to many countries in debt

• Countries paid back their debt with money made through trades to the USA

• With the high tariffs and protectionism present in the USA, their trade with the USA halted– Unable to pay off debt

Culture During the Depression

• Hockey: http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1930s/1930s-11-arts-1930s.html

• Radio: CBC was created in 1936• Music: big band swing, blues, jazz

http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1930s/1930s-11-arts-1930s.html

• Movies: King Kong, the Wizard of Oz

Exit Slip

• Take out a blank piece of paper to write on

1) Draw out our describe the economic/business cycle

2) Create and acronym for the causes of the Depression eg. ROY G BIV

Class is out! See you tomorrow