The Unequal
Distribution of Income
A popular theory as to what might have caused the Great Depression was that in the 1920’s there was an unequal distribution of income between the rich and the middle or poor (Wikipedia). During this period, “The Roaring twenties weren’t roaring for everyone. By 1929, 1% of Americans controlled 40% of the wealth in this country” (Croft Communications). Really only a very small percentage of Americans which were the wealthy actually had control of the money that the United States’ economy was in desperate need. During that time many inventions were being produced but the more that was produced the more the debt started to raise since there weren’t many people that bought them (WGB). Since the wealthy had control of most of the money they would only use it to investments to get richer. The money that they had in their disposal would have been a great relief to the economy (Masaccio). Another reason is that the working class really didn’t have much to contribute since they had low wages and were really unable buy more products and cycle the money need to get the economy going (Historical Boy’s Clothing). The middle class were very cautions on spending their money because it was so low and “80 percent…had no savings at all, no cushion for emergencies” (Historical Boy’s Clothing). The very unstable balance couldn’t stay for long. For a while it worked to some extent but it was only a matter of time before the gap between the rich and working class became too much and would be too unstable for the economy to function inefficiently and smoothly (Historical Boy’s Clothing). As a result of this American was on the downward spiral to the Great Depression.
A popular theory as to what might have caused the Great Depression was that in the 1920’s there was an unequal distribution of income between the rich and the middle or poor (Wikipedia). During this period, “The Roaring twenties weren’t roaring for everyone. By 1929, 1% of Americans controlled 40% of the wealth in this country” (Croft Communications). Really only a very small percentage of Americans which were the wealthy actually had control of the money that the United States’ economy was in desperate need. During that time many inventions were being produced but the more that was produced the more the debt started to raise since there weren’t many people that bought them (WGB). Since the wealthy had control of most of the money they would only use it to investments to get richer. The money that they had in their disposal would have been a great relief to the economy (Masaccio). Another reason is that the working class really didn’t have much to contribute since they had low wages and were really unable buy more products and cycle the money need to get the economy going (Historical Boy’s Clothing). The middle class were very cautions on spending their money because it was so low and “80 percent…had no savings at all, no cushion for emergencies” (Historical Boy’s Clothing). The very unstable balance couldn’t stay for long. For a while it worked to some extent but it was only a matter of time before the gap between the rich and working class became too much and would be too unstable for the economy to function inefficiently and smoothly (Historical Boy’s Clothing). As a result of this American was on the downward spiral to the Great Depression.