Chapter 16 Chapter 3 The Great Economic Panic

Since the founding of the United States, successive congresses have reviewed the national situation, and there is no such prosperity as seen in this session... The wealth created by our enterprises and the strength of our economy are not only shared by our people, but also by people outside the region. benefit from it.But today, the necessary conditions for survival have changed from the necessities of life to the luxury of beautiful clothes and gourmet food.The continuous expansion of production is absorbed by the increasing national consumption internally and promoted externally by prosperous trade and commerce.The achievements of our country today are very gratifying.The future of our country is very optimistic.

—President Coolidge, State of the Union address, December 4, 1928 Unemployment, second only to war, is the most widespread, deepest, and most unavoidable disease of our generation. It is a unique social ill in the West in our era. —Editorial in The Times of London, January 23, 1943