Great Depression Information – History of the Great Depression

If you study history and the effects the Great Depression had on almost all Americans and large portions of the world, we see that people were unprepared for such a storm to roll in. With the housing bubble bursting and the stock market falling 777 points in a single trading day, I started to sense that history was repeating itself so I started to research great depression information.

Great Depression Information – Trading & Debt

Not sure where to start with all of the great depression information out there. Stock market traders buying and selling in larger quantities in the 20′s, you started having traders give a sort of I O U to one another.  This was fine because the market was becoming so strong and such a force that people took one another’s word for it.  Just like the housing act enacted by the Carter administration, where citizens who never had the chance to own a home were assisted by the Government.  This increased home sales and building stats. These new found home owners had to meet certain recommendations before approval.  You would still have consumers with the least capital gaining mortgages. With home loan A.P.R. rates very high compared to todays standards, we started to see banks lending out more and more. They sold these mortgages to secondary buyers.  President Clinton then made an addendum to the bill which sent it into a faster pace.

The traders were in essence doing the same, buying more than they could handle if the floor were to give way. Just like home owners buying a house far too expensive for their debt to income ratio. Just like the stock brokers, we saw greed take place and coined the phrase “predatory lending”. This was the banks doing, as well as the builders, and realtor’s.  Home building supplies began to rise, causing prices to rise, which in turn caused people to buy houses for higher mortgage payments than they could afford. Once this bubble grew till the point that debts were called, the floor gave way and everything suddenly lost all its worth. Just like the stock market, traders had just started trading worthless paper back and forth. Once the debt was called it all was realized to be worthless.

Great Depression Information – Instant Gratification

We are a consumer driven economy where we like the best and throw away the rest. We love instant gratification. The thrill of a deal and to be the envy of your friends leads to a mountain of debt. The only people not affected by the  great depression were the people that were self sustainable. Everything they needed was around them in the fields and woods. They were more than likely poor in the first place so it wasn’t much of a change.  So how do we keep from becoming the people shocked by the fall of the market? We have to clear our debt, wait and save for your pleasures. It makes them worth so much more. It’s like a kid who works for his first car or is given his first car. Which is more gratifying? Which one will be driven easier and taken care of better? Prepare for winter. Take the time to have extra necessities in your home. Imagine if all hell broke loose and you had no gas in your car and no food at home. How packed do you think the supermarket will be? Build a surplus and it will build piece of mind. This article maybe vague but I wanted you to get the gist of things. There are tons of other sites out there with Great Depression Facts. I would love to hear your comments on the subject and articles with Great Depression Information.