Historical Inquiry - Project Notes

Week One
The Great Depression Video Notes

Super Summarizer:
The Great Depression (1930) followed the stock market crash which occurred one year before.
The crash of the stock market sent the majority of America’s population to bankruptcy and
unemployment, in some cases, even homelessness, which ultimately led to the phenomenon of
the depression. Aside from citizens, the depression caused many banks to go under as well,
this led to a freeze of credit, leading to deflation and resulted in more people losing their jobs,
furthermore harming the monetary contentment of many people. The issue was resolved when
the government agreed to provide financial relief, pulling some out of debt.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert: (Ally)
-GD happened after stock market crash, but not because of it; Stock market crash ≠ Great
Depression
-Agricultural sector suffered, farm prices dropped; huge amount of farming -> farmers went into
debt to mechanize their farms -> overproduction -> less money -> many farms failed
-GD caused by mass unemployment - didn’t start until 1930-1931
-Banks were independent of the govt., went under if they didn’t have enough resources to
support their patrons -- 1930’s = many banks went under because of GD panic
-Banks called in loans and sold assets to keep themselves afloat, leading to a freezing of credit.
Frozen credit = less money in circulation -> deflation -> more layoffs -> businesses went
bankrupt -> nobody could buy anything
-U.S. did not abandon the gold standard -> caused further freezing of financial markets
-End of 1931, 2,294 U.S. banks failed, double the amount of banks that went down the previous
year
-1929 - Fed. expenditures accounted for 3% of America’s gross domestic product
-Revenue Act of 1932 passed, arguable made GD worse
-Jan. 1932 Hoover & congress -> Reconstruction Finance Corporation (bailed out banks)
-Early 1932 = 10 mil. people unemployed - 20% of the labor force
-Chicago -- 4% population = AA, AA = more than 16% of the unemployed
-Govt. Provided aid -- New York = $79mil (less than one months lost wages for 800,000
unemployed people)
Wize Word Wizard (Julian):

Hooverville - A term used to describe a shantytown during Hoover’s presidential term.
Installment Buying - The process of purchasing an asset over time.
Commercial Ventures - A high risk, high reward investment relating to buying or selling goods.
Margin-Buying - You receive a loan from your brokerage and use that money to invest in more
securities than you can buy with your available money.
Federal Reserve System - The central banking system of the United States.
The Gold Standard - A monetary system where the standard economic unit is based on a fixed
quantity of gold.
Keynesian Pump Priming - When the government intervenes within the economy, with the
goal of increasing aggregate demand. Which can result in a positive shift in the economy.
Tariff - A duty or tax imposed on a certain class of imports or exports.
The New Deal - A series of projects, programs, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939.
Great Depression Resources

Super Summarizer (Teyana):
Hoovervilles: The Shantytowns of the Great Depression

During the Great Depression, Shantytowns began to appear throughout the U.S. as a result of
unemployed Americans being evicted from their homes. Some constructed houses on the
outskirts of cities, mostly near rivers for convenience of a water source. The homes were made
from tar paper, cardboard, and discarded lumber, while others dug holes in the ground with
waterproof covering. Most of these were very makeshift and not very pretty, a lot of them being
in a constant need of repair. The name of these “Hoovervilles” were derived from the president
at the time, Herbert Hoover, who is greatly hated and blamed for the economical collapse during
the 1930s. These small towns were unsanitary, being a hazard, but a tolerated one at that. Post
Roosevelt being elected, many of these Hoovervilles were torn down, as he provided new
recovery programs for financial relief.
Senate Committee on Manufactures, 1932

Food was rationed, as the nation could not afford much of it. Families were forced to buy rotted
or stale food. Even the meat wasn’t fresh, fresh meat was far too expensive, and hard to come
by. If there wasn’t even old food to come across, people just starved, or gathered any sort of
edible plant, like dandelions.
Frederick Savage Interview

The depression was caused predominantly from unionization and the notion of workers
attempting to rebel against manufacturers. Because of the lack of employment, these
companies went under, unable to contribute to the masses that demanded products. “The
laboring man and the financier spent their time figuring out how they could beat each other
instead of having good feelings.”
Clever Connecter:
● (Hoovervilles: The Shantytowns of the Great Depression, 4/4/2017, Secondary,

Article) FEMA trailers and Tiny houses in San Francisco. This is happening again in
San Francisco. They’re (the government) building “tiny houses” for the homeless
veterans. These houses are being made from recycled materials, similar to the
Hoovervilles.
● (Interview with Mr. Frederick Savage, 1936-1940, Primary, Interview) Industrial

revolution contributed to people being pushed out of their jobs and replaced by
machinery. This is something that we’re currently witnessing and experiencing in 2023.
Think of how many cashiers you see in a Target store nowadays, not many. People are
being replaced with technological advancements.
● (Senate Committee on Manufactures, 1932, Primary, Interview) Shows perspectives

on the Great Depression across multiple generations. Common denominator: loss of
dignity. Loss of dignity stems from their loss of purpose, which was a result of massive
loss during the Great Depression. Loss of dignity pipelines to a loss of hope &
confidence (ex: Chief fear(s): loss of job, poverty, things will never get better.)
All in all, the government's lack of regard for their citizens and general irresponsibility regarding
the banking & credit system contributes to economic depression in the U.S.A.. This affects the
citizens negatively because of loss of jobs. When there is a lack of jobs, there’s financial
insecurity and a loss of dignity. These factors, among many others that accompanied the Great
Depression, breeds civil unrest. This isn’t good for anyone involved. When people don’t have
anything to work towards and feel like they’re stuck with nowhere to go, this creates chaos.
Evidence Expert: (Ally)

1)
● Began in 1929, lasted 10~ years, shantytowns appeared as unemployed people
were evicted
● GD worsened in 1930’s; people went to govt. for help
● Govt. couldn’t help, Hoover was blamed, shantytowns became Hoovervilles
● Hoover was defeated by Roosevelt in next presidential election(1932);
Roosevelt’s programs provided some relief
● 1933 = >15mil/one quarter of U.S. workers unemployed
● Causes = Stock market crash and widespread failure of U.S. banks bred mistrust
and lack of confidence in U.S. economy
● Roaring twenties = most were living outside of their income; GD started, citizens
looked to govt for help, were refused by Hoover
● Shantytowns/Hoovervilles = shelters made by homeless citizens, sometimes
housing more than 1,000 residents at once; built near rivers/water sources
● Hoovervilles were a health risk, but mostly tolerated
● Hoovervilles started to behave like towns, some even existing as a free-standing
community(St. Louis Hooverville)
● Citizens of Hoovervilles took whatever work they could find, often hard,
back-breaking labor
● “Hoover” was used for other items as well, such as blankets, outturned pockets,
horse-drawn wagons, and cardboard shoe insoles/soles
● Hoover sent U.S. Army chief of staff, Douglass MacArthur, to evict an erected
Hooverville of veterans demanding government bonuses that were promised.
When veterans refused to acknowledge the government’s refusal, MacArthur “set
fire to the Hooverville and drove the group from the city with bayonets and tear
gas.
● The Hawley-Smoot Tariff act made country to country trade incredibly difficult.
1929-1932, world trade declined by more than half
● Roosevelt was elected over Hoover in 1932, and his relief plan(New Deal) made
good progress within the country, leading to many/almost all Hoovervilles being
torn down by the early 1940’s
2)
● Money was scarce, which meant food was scarce - many families went without
meals
● Three people were interviewed: A 25y/o waitress, a 43y/o housewife, and a 54y/o
molder. They were all in need of money.
3)
● (From an interview with an American citizen, Frederick Savage)
● Unions were the cause of the depression, starting in the early 1900’s -- Men
employed in large manufacturing companies joined unions to compel companies
to pay higher wages, destroying the trust between these two parties.
● Turned into a competition, companies started buying machinery to replace the
men; too many men, not enough work for them to do, and everything got worse
and worse and worse.
Wize Word Wizard (Julian):

The Roaring Twenties - A time period in the decade of 1920, renowned for widespread
prosperity, and the enjoyment of new technologies. But citizens were living beyond their means
with the use of a new credit system.

Pulitzer-Prize - A prestigious award given by Columbia University for achievements in literature,
musical arts, and other similar forms of expression in the United States.
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act - A tariff imposed by President Hoover to attempt to keep imported
goods from competing with American counterparts. This only worsened the economic situation.
Molder - Someone who creates the core molds for metal castings out of wax or sand in metal
foundries.
Financier - Someone who is in charge of the management of large sums of money on behalf of
organizations or governments.
Cars On The Road - Number of “car” registered vehicles owned by americans.
Model-T - A very early model of Ford cars, it was one of the first to be designed to be cheap,
sturdy, and mass-producible.
Calamity - An event that causes widespread chaos and destruction, in other words; a disaster.
Scapegoat - Someone who is blamed for the wrongdoings of others, especially if convenient.
Infirmities - A weakness, either physical, metaphorical, or mental.
The Treaty Of Versailles - A treaty imposed upon Germany, blaming it for the start of WWI. The
treaty included massive reparations which nearly crippled the German economy, sending it into
debt. Ultimately, the environment it created in the country made it ideal for the rise of Hitler, and
his Nazi Party.
Annexation - The act of adding another country’s territory to another country’s.
2008 Financial Crisis and Great Depression

Discussion
Super Summarizer:
Both economic systems failing each had different repercussions. Alongside the difference in
technology between the two eras, it definitely affected two separate communities very differently
as well, the common connector being a spike in unemployment. Some of the notable differences
include the difference in timespan, credit collapse density, focus of subject which caused the
failure, and detriment of what it did to each community; We all agreed that The Great
Depression was on a much greater scale considering all these factors.
Clever Connector:
Both:
- Unemployment rates spiked
- Economy crashed
- Weak banking system
Differences:
- GD; stretched over a longer amount of time
- GD; seemingly more civil unrest, less access to helpful resources
- GD; issues centered around the credit system
- 2008; shorter
- 2008; issues centered around real estate
Evidence Expert:
-Both economic systems failed
-Mass unemployment
-GD was probably worse to live through
-2008 was on a shorter timespan
-2008 was centered around real estate to back stocks and such
-GD was more a collapse of the credit system
Wize Word Wizard:

“Too Big To Fail” - When a financial organization becomes so large, and instrumental in the
economy, that the government has to step in to prevent it from ceasing trade or going bankrupt.
Securitisation - When you convert an asset (most likely a loan), into a marketable deposit for a
loan.
CDOs - A collateralized debt obligation is an asset-backed deposit for a loan.
Great Recession Resources

Super Summarizer:
Source A
It is believed that the reason why the crisis happened is because of human error and toxic
mortgages.
Source B
(2011) Former associates with the White House, Arthur Burns and Peter Wallison, state their
opinion that the financial crisis of 2008 was caused by deregulation and predatory lending
practices. A reason that led to these beliefs include the U.S. Housing Policy. The U.S. Housing
Policy is one that included the creation of 27 million risky loans on mortgage, which happened to
default as the 1997-2007 Housing Bubble began to inflate. The Housing Bubble was a condition
of overpriced and highly speculative houses on the market. This caused the median of housing
prices to inflate by 42%.
Source C
A group of people who remain anonymous published a compilation of 25 people in TIME
magazine who they deem responsible for the 2008 Financial Crisis. This includes all of the
people who were in the Federal Reserve, as well as the American Consumer. Readers were
asked to choose from the list and vote who they thought was most and least guilty.
Clever Connecter:
(Conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, 2011, Primary, Government

Report)
Credit markets seizing up in 2008 is similar to what happened during the Great Depression, with
credit freezing up due to banks loaning money they didn’t have.
● “Technology has transformed the efficiency, speed, and complexity of financial
instruments and transactions.” Technological advancements such as these are part of
what contributed to massive job loss during the Great Depression. Aside from the weak
banking system, the increase in machinery production and the cost efficiency of
machinery vs.employees resulted in the spike of unemployment rates.
● “The crisis was the result of human action and inaction,” This begs the question, is it
better to replace human employees with machinery, or in more modern terms, A.I.? If the
2008 crisis was a result of human error, would it be better to have machines to perform
these tasks instead. But if we did that, what would we do with all of the people? How
would people make money and provide for themselves & their families? We saw what
happened when there was massive unemployment in the early 1920’s, but we also saw
what happened in 2008 when we allowed people to perform these high stakes jobs. It’s a
double edged sword.
● What role does the government play in economic depression? “We conclude the
government was ill prepared for the crisis, and its inconsistent response added to the
uncertainty and panic in the financial markets.” Inconsistency, alongside a lack of
preparedness and understanding of a system they’re allegedly “overseeing”.
● “But as a nation, we must also accept responsibility for what we permitted to
occur. Collectively, but certainly not unanimously, we acquiesced to or embraced
a system, a set of policies and actions, that gave rise to our present predicament.”
This quote follows a statement that, without all the diplomatic governmental garb,
says ‘There are some at fault, not because they are human, but because they are
human…’ and ‘everyone is at fault, nationally, but not really because few have
the control to have caused this crisis, but actually everyone is responsible.’.
All of this is just noise! This is a government report that is attempting to truthfully state
what happened in 2008, then wraps it up with a statement about how the people running
these institutions were at fault, but they also weren’t… and it was actually the fault of the
entire United States of America as a nation. There is so much backtracking in this
singular government document and it begs the question of how they act behind closed
doors.There is a severe lack of self-accountability here.
(Conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Dissenting Statement, 2011,

Primary, Government Report)
Due to the U.S. government housing plans and their lack of stability, there was an allowance of
weak and risky mortgage agreements (housing agreements) to exist. This became a clear
problem when the 1997-2007 housing bubble began to “deflate”, causing low quality and high
risk loans to fail in unexpected numbers.
(25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis: The Good Intentions, Bad Managers, and
Greed behind the Meltdown, 2009, Secondary, Magazine Article)
As a result of the, somewhat ridiculousness, following the 2008 crisis, there was seemingly a
market for poking fun at the subject within popular (maybe even niche) magazines &
newspapers at the time. This can be said due to the gimmick included in this piece; a vote. This
vote isn’t something like an election, it’s something being used to gauge how the general
American public is perceiving the matter of the 2008 crisis. Not in any significant way that is
effecting positive change, just a way to point fingers and have a bit of a laugh. This feels similar
to political comics back in the day, just a modernized version of poking at the masses and
allowing the average American citizen to feel involved in an issue that is at large, much bigger
than them that they have no real control over.
In regards to the government, there seems to be a direct causation when it comes to economic
depression. In relation to the Great Depression, there was the weak banking & credit system
that was run by the government. Even well after their mistakes were realized and
unemployment rates spiked, they still did hardly anything about it. There is an evident lack of
self-accountability, and we witness this theme in the 2008 Great Recession as well. Overall,
there is a repeat pattern of a lack of accountability and understanding of their own government,
alongside irresponsibility.
Evidence Expert:
1)
● “...it was the collapse of the housing bubble—fueled by low interest rates, easy
and available credit, scant regulation, and toxic mortgages—that was the spark
that ignited a string of events, which led to a full-blown crisis in the fall of 2008.”
● Bubble bursts = mass loss of money in mortgages/mortgage related business
● “The crisis reached seismic proportions in September 2008 with the failure of
Lehman Brothers”
● “Panic, fanned by a lack of transparency of the balance sheets of major financial
institutions, coupled with a tangle of interconnections among institutions
perceived to be “too big to fail,” caused the credit markets to seize up.
● The financial markets have become increasingly globalized.”
● “Technology has transformed the efficiency, speed, and complexity of financial
instruments and transactions. There is broader access to and lower costs of
financing than ever before. And the financial sector itself has become a much
more dominant force in our economy”
● “From 1978 to 2007 the amount of debt held by the financial sector soared from
$3 trillion to $36 trillion”
● “2005, the 10 largest U.S. commercial banks held 55% of the industry’s assets,”
● “2006, financial sector profits constituted 27% of all corporate profits in the United
States, up from 15% in 1980.”
● “...this financial crisis was avoidable.”
● “The crisis was the result of human action and inaction,”
● “The prime example is the Federal Reserve’s pivotal failure to stem the flow of
toxic mortgages, which it could have done by setting prudent mortgage-lending
standards.”
● “More than 30 years of deregulation and reliance on self-regulation by financial
institutions, championed by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan
and others, supported by successive administrations and Congresses, and
actively pushed by the powerful financial industry at every turn, had stripped
away key safeguards, which could have helped avoid catastrophe.”
● “markets. In addition, the government permitted financial firms to pick their
preferred regulators in what became a race to the weakest supervisor.”
● “From 1999 to 2008, the financial sector expended $2.7 billion in reported federal
lobbying expenses; individuals and political action committees in the sector made
more than $1 billion in campaign contributions.”
● “They took on enormous exposures in acquiring and supporting subprime lenders
and creating, packaging, repackaging, and selling trillions of dollars in
mortgage-related securities, including synthetic financial products.”
● AIG - started taking risky loans/securities = “company held $55 billion in
'super-senior’ and supposedly ‘super-safe’ mortgage-related securities that
resulted in billions of dollars in losses.”
● “By one measure, their leverage ratios were as high as 40 to 1 meaning for every
$40 in assets, there was only $1 in capital to cover losses. Less than a 3% drop
in asset values could wipe out a firm.”
● “...from 2001 to 2007, national mortgage debt almost doubled, and the amount of
mortgage debt per household rose more than 63% from $91,500 to $149,500,
even while wages were essentially stagnant. When the housing downturn hit,
heavily indebted financial firms and families alike were walloped.”
● “Nearly one in 10 mortgage borrowers in 2005 and 2006 took out “option ARM”
loans, which meant they could choose to make payments so low that their
mortgage balances rose every month.”
● “We conclude the government was ill prepared for the crisis, and its
inconsistent response added to the uncertainty and panic in the financial
markets.”
● “They were hampered because they did not have a clear grasp of the financial
system they were charged with overseeing, particularly as it had evolved in the
years leading up to the crisis.”
● “We conclude there was a systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics.”
● “...the percentage of borrowers who defaulted on their mortgages within just a
matter of months after taking a loan nearly doubled from the summer of 2006 to
late 2007. This data indicates they likely took out mortgages that they never had
the capacity or intention to pay.”
● “Lenders made loans that they knew borrowers could not afford and that could
cause massive losses to investors in mortgage securities.” -> ending in
foreclosures/finance and reputation damage -> still did not stop
2)
● Cause -- U.S. govt housing plans -> not solid at all, allowed sub-quality
housing agreements to exist
● “when Lehman Brothers—an investment bank even larger than Bear—was
allowed to fail [by the government], market participants were shocked;” ->
“This caused a halt to lending and a hoarding of cash…”
3)
● Top picks for the blame game =
● Angelo Mozilo
● Phil Gramm
● Alan Greenspan
● Chris Cox
● American Consumers
● Hank Paulson
● Joe Cassano
● Ian McCarthy
● Frank Raines
● Kathleen Corbet
● Dick Fuld
● Marion and Herb Sandler
● Bill Clinton
● George W. Bush
● Stan O'Neal
● Wen Jiabao
● David Lereah
● John Devaney
● Bernie Madoff
● Lew Ranieri
● Burton Jablin
● Fred Goodwin
● Sandy Weill
● David Oddsson
● Jimmy Cayne
Wize Word Wizard:
Interest Rates - The rate of which your owed money (from a loan) increases with time.
Mortgages - An agreement with someone who is lending money where you can borrow funds to
purchase a house, but if you cannot repay the loan, the lenders can take the property.
Credit - Credit allows a customer to purchase goods or services with the connotation of being
able to pay for it later.
Lehman Brothers - Lehman Brothers Inc. was an American financial company which operated
on a global scale.
American International Group - A multinational American finance and insurance organization.
Interconnections - A connection between two or more things.
“Too big to fail” - When a financial organization becomes so large, and instrumental in the
Recession - Usually identified by a fall in a country’s GDP within two successive quarters, a
recession is a temporary decline in a country’s economy.
Globalize - To develop international connections.

Gross Domestic Product - The total compiled value of all goods and services produced by a
country in one year.
Subprime Lending - When loans are given out to individuals who are unlikely to be able to pay
them off.
Securitization - When you convert an asset (most likely a loan), into a marketable deposit for a
loan.
Pervasive - An influence spread throughout an area.
Permissiveness - An excessive amount of freedom regarding one’s behavior.
Covid 19 Resources
Super Summarizer:
Source A
Nearly 1 in 8 families reported that they did not have a sufficient food source in their household
as of October 2021. Upon asking, the adults of the household admitted they were not able to eat
enough as a result of insufficient income. For scale, this means that around 5 to 9 million
children nationwide go hungry because the adult/s in their households cannot afford food to eat.
Source B
Statistics reveal that white families are more than twice as likely to be able to afford adequate
amounts of food to support their households over Black and Latino adults. Adults of Native
descent (Pacific Islander, Native American, Alaskan Native) and mixed race were three times as
likely to be food deficient in their household in comparison to White adults.
Source C
As of late 2021, millions of American mortgage/rent payers reported being unable to make
monthly payments towards their house. The December 2020 financial relief plan was said to
have contributed $46 million to house payments. In January of 2021, 15 million Americans had
not paid their rent/mortgage on time, yet only 3.5 million only received the support they needed.
It is also reported in this article that the majority of the households in debt from multiple months
of missed debt are said to be Black, Latino, or Mixed.
Clever Connecter:
(All)
Following the pandemic, Black and Latino adults with children reportedly had higher rates of
hunger and late mortgage/house payments in October of 2021, in comparison to adults of other
racial backgrounds w/o children.
Evidence Expert:
1)
● 20mil adults -- households did not have enough to eat in past 7 days (September
29–October 11, 2021) -- 82% could not afford to buy more food
● Households with children were more likely to not be able to buy enough food for the
adults, and 7-13% of adults with children were unable to buy enough food for both adults
and children
● Approximately several million children were in households that could not afford enough
food
2)
● Black and Latino households = more than twice as likely to not be able to afford enough
food. American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or multiracial
households were more than three times as likely than white households.
3)
● Government provided financial aid to households struggling or unable to pay rent or
housing costs ($46 billion into relief funds)
● “Renters of color and families with children consistently reported higher rates of rent
hardship throughout 2020 and 2021.”
● Data collection was not entirely accurate as some tended to skip survey questions
Wize Word Wizard:

Pulse Survey/Data - A pulse survey is a short, regular series of questions given to employees.
The data collected from these surveys is Pulse Data.
Census Bureau - An agency in the United States government that produces data about the
American population and economy.
Week Two
Great Depression Resources pt.2

Super Summarizer:
What really caused the Great Depression?
Unstable Banking System
Between 1930-1933, around 9,000 banks failed due to the shortage of reserves from applying
loans to borrowers. Many banks failed, and because there was no deposit protection, anyone
within that bank would lose all their money as well.
Asset Bubbles
When asset prices rose due to inflation, this caused an increase in tax in hopes of balancing the
budget, but only managed to encourage trading partners to increase tariff rates, freezing
international trade. In the 1920s, the money supply was expanded, overflowing the banks with
cash which they had loaned off to companies/consumers. In 1930, the loans became
unsustainable. As a result, the Federal Reserve contracted money supply from the banks, only
inflicting more debt onto those who had borrowed.
Table 1, 2, 3, 4
Inflation increased in regards to cars, households with radios, and sales of radios to over a
million dollars/sales between the eras of the 1910s-1930s.
Clever Connecter:
(What really caused the Great Depression?, 2021, Secondary, Video Blog)
Too much access to money in the 1920’s potentially made having too little access to money
much more shocking than it might’ve been. Many believe the Federal Reserve deserves some
of the blame for the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve made an easy credit system that
led to an asset bubble, then in the early 30’s the Federal Reserve didn’t help the banks who
were struggling as a result of the credit boom.
Evidence Expert:
1)
● Top 5 causes of GD:
a) An unstable banking system. In just three years(1930-1933), over 9,000 banks
failed as a result of over depositing much beyond the value of their assets. [no
deposit insurance, led to bank panics in which everyone withdrew their money,
making the situation worse]
b) Asset bubble. Inflation happened a lot in the 1920’s. Money was incredibly easy
to borrow.
c) Increase of tariffs/taxes in times of struggle. Hoover raised taxes in early GD to
balance out the economy and bring down prices. Hawley-Smoot act = one of the
worst laws in american history -> made trading partners raise tariffs in retaliation
-> international trade = frozen. Raising taxes during a recession = very bad
d) Too much access to money in 1920’s, too little in the 1930’s. Federal Reserve =
at very least some of the blame. Easy credit policy = expanded money supply ->
unsustainable credit boom -> asset bubble. Fed pulled money policy, not helping
the banks in favor of trying to preserve the value of the dollar, and this turned out
to be seriously harmful.
e) Too much credit in 1920’s, too little in 1930’s. Credit, or ‘buy stuff pay later’, got
super out of control in the 1920’s
2)
● Cars on the road: 1919 = 6.7 million, 1929 = 23 million
3)
● 1912 -> Wages = 592, price of Ford model T = $600
● 1924 -> Wages = 1,303, price of Ford model T = $290
4)
● 1925 -> 19% of American homes had radios
● 1929 -> 35 - 40% of American homes had radios
5)
● 1922 -> Radio sales = $60 million
● 1929 -> Radio sales = $842.6 million
Wize Word Wizard:

The Roaring Twenties - A time period in the decade of 1920, renowned for widespread
prosperity, and the enjoyment of new technologies. But citizens were living beyond their means
with the use of a new credit system.
Pulitzer-Prize - A prestigious award given by Columbia University for achievements in literature,

musical arts, and other similar forms of expression in the United States.
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act - A tariff imposed by President Hoover to attempt to keep imported
goods from competing with American counterparts. This only worsened the economic situation.
Molder - Someone who creates the core molds for metal castings out of wax or sand in metal
foundries.
Financier - Someone who is in charge of the management of large sums of money on behalf of
organizations or governments.
Cars On The Road - Number of “car” registered vehicles owned by americans.
Model-T - A very early model of Ford cars, it was one of the first to be designed to be cheap,
sturdy, and mass-producible.
his Nazi Party.
Great Recession Resources pt.2

Super Summarizer:
Source D
In 2008, The collapse of Lehman Brothers caused the worst recession in 80 years caused by
financiers, central bankers, regulators, macroeconomic backdrop, European banks, and a flood
of irresponsible mortgage lending in America. The new financial system was built on flimsy
foundations and failed to provide investors with protection. Central banks failed to keep
economic imbalances in check and exercised improper financial oversight. Political pressures
and consumer delusion encouraged risk-taking and debt accumulation.
Source E
Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase CEO progresses a plan to help save the Lehman Brothers
from bankruptcy. However, concern was spread beyond Lehman, expanding to Merrill Lynch of
Wall Street and insurers American International Group. Some corporations only had a week to
be saved before going under, and as JP Morgan’s clients, it was their responsibility to pull them
out. He was deemed unsuccessful, and organized a conference call to alert Wall Street giants to
prepare for one of America’s biggest financial crises in history.
Source F
The compensation of Lenders, brokers, and securitizers prioritized more around the transaction
volume rather than the borrowers ability to pay back the debt they owed, as well as these
corporations overlooking suitability of the borrower. These were considered risky loans and a
major factor that led to the recession of 2008.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
1)
● Collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly tore down the world’s financial system(2008)
● “Loans were doled out to “subprime” borrowers with poor credit histories who struggled
to repay them. These risky mortgages were passed on to financial engineers at the big
banks, who turned them into supposedly low-risk securities by putting large numbers of
them together in pools.”
● “Starting in 2006, America suffered a nationwide house-price slump.”
● Companies who graded tranches were paid by the companies that owned the tranches,
leading to inaccurate and/or false assessments
● “The Fed’s defenders shift the blame to the savings glut—the surfeit of saving over
investment in emerging economies, especially China. That capital flooded into safe
American-government bonds, driving down interest rates.”
● “Pooling and other clever financial engineering did not provide investors with the
promised protection.”
● “Supposedly safe CDOs turned out to be worthless, despite the ratings agencies’ seal of
approval.”
● “Trust, the ultimate glue of all financial systems, began to dissolve in 2007—a year
before Lehman’s bankruptcy—as banks started questioning the viability of their
counterparties. They and other sources of wholesale funding began to withhold
short-term credit, causing those most reliant on it to founder.”
● “The whole system was revealed to have been built on flimsy foundations: banks had
allowed their balance-sheets to bloat, but set aside too little capital to absorb losses.”
● “Central bankers and other regulators bear responsibility too, for mishandling the crisis,
for failing to keep economic imbalances in check and for failing to exercise proper
oversight of financial institutions.”
● Lehman Brothers failed -> panic -> mistrust -> no lending
● “Ironically, the decision to stand back and allow Lehman to go bankrupt resulted in more
government intervention, not less.”
● “But the regulators made mistakes long before the Lehman bankruptcy, most notably by
tolerating global current- account imbalances and the housing bubbles that they helped
to inflate.”
● “In other words, although Europeans claimed to be innocent victims of Anglo-Saxon
excess, their banks were actually in the thick of things.”
● “The glut that caused America’s loose credit conditions before the crisis, he argues, was
in global banking rather than in world savings.”
● “Southern European economies racked up huge current-account deficits in the first
decade of the euro while countries in northern Europe ran offsetting surpluses. The
imbalances were financed by credit flows from the euro-zone core to the overheated
housing markets of countries like Spain and Ireland.”
● The European Central Bank did nothing to restrain the credit surge on the periphery,
believing (wrongly) that current-account imbalances did not matter in a monetary union.
The Bank of England, having lost control over banking supervision when it was made
independent in 1997, took a mistakenly narrow view of its responsibility to maintain
financial stability.”
● Central bankers could have intervened by “lowering maximum loan-to-value ratios for
mortgages, or demanding that banks should set aside more capital.”
● “Under pressure from shareholders to increase returns, banks operated with minimal
equity, leaving them vulnerable if things went wrong.”
2)
● Lehman Brothers = fourth-largest investment bank
● “In a period of less than eighteen months, Wall Street had gone from celebrating its most
profitable age to finding itself on the brink of an epochal devastation.”
3)
● “In the more recent “originate-to-securitize” system, the compensation of brokers,
lenders, and securitizers was based on transaction volume, not loan performance.
Consequently, many lenders and brokers aggressively marketed and originated loans
without evaluating the borrowers’ ability to repay them.”
● “...of dangerous mortgages—such as loans with introductory “teaser” rates that reset
after a few years to much higher rates; loans that did not require income verification; and
loans with prepayment penalties that locked borrowers into high rates or risky terms.”
● “Accompanying this expansion of risky loan terms was a deterioration of lending
standards.”
● “Wall Street rewarded loan originators for riskier loan products by paying a higher
premium for non-conforming loans.”
● “Meanwhile, the credit agencies charged with rating the quality of mortgage-backed
investments were assigning high ratings to securities backed by these dangerous and
unsustainable loans. This gave false assurance to investors that these products were
safe.”
Wize Word Wizard:

Interest Rates - The rate of which your owed money (from a loan) increases with time.
Credit - Credit allows a customer to purchase goods or services with the connotation of being
able to pay for it later.
Lehman Brothers - Lehman Brothers Inc. was an American financial company which operated
on a global scale.
American International Group - A multinational American finance and insurance organization.
Interconnections - A connection between two or more things.
“Too big to fail” - When a financial organization becomes so large, and instrumental in the
Recession - Usually identified by a fall in a country’s GDP within two successive quarters, a
recession is a temporary decline in a country’s economy.
Globalize - To develop international connections.
Gross Domestic Product - The total compiled value of all goods and services produced by a
country in one year.
Subprime Lending - When loans are given out to individuals who are unlikely to be able to pay
them off.
Securitization - When you convert an asset (most likely a loan), into a marketable deposit for a
loan.
Pervasive - An influence spread throughout an area.
Permissiveness - An excessive amount of freedom regarding one’s behavior.
Covid 19 Resources pt.2
Super Summarizer:
Figure 6
As of late 2021, 16% of all rent-paying adults fell behind in their monthly payments. It’s shown
that 26% of renters of African American descent fell behind on rent, and 18% of Native renters
fell behind, in comparison to the 12% of white renters that fell behind.
Figure 7
In the same year as figure 7, it was reported that 23% of young renters with children had fallen
behind on monthly payments as well.
Figure 8
1 in 3 children who resided in a rent paying household reportedly didn’t have enough food to
eat, these are tied to the same rent paying households that had fallen behind on their rent. In
the same year of fall 2021, over 7.5 million mortgage payments were not on time either.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
1)
● ~12 million renting adults, 16% of all renters, were behind on paying rent(oct. 11th, 2021)
2)
● Over 1 in 5 renters with children were not caught up on rent payments
● (23% w/ children, 12% w/o children)
3)
● Over 1 in 5 children in rental housing did not have enough to eat
● Estimated 7.5 million adults = not caught up on mortgage payments as of fall 2021
Wize Word Wizard:

Week Three
Super Summarizer:
How Alternative Turmoil After WWI Led to the Great Depression
Despite America emerging from WWI as a major economic power, they still demanded loans set
to allies to be repaid by Germany. This enabled the Treaty of Versailles, and Germany was now
required to pay billions in reparations to their allies, impoverishing the entire nation. This led to a
vicious trade of money across the Atlantic Ocean as American bankers lent money to Germany
to pay reparations to the Allies to repay their debts to the United States. The German economy
further crumbled as inflation rose from the increase of money printing, and their factories went
under, rendering the German Mark useless. In America, policies enacted by Republican
administrations resulted in large tax cuts for corporate owners that widened income inequality
and a lack of regulation on banks/Wall Street. This led to an international trade war that
hindered economic progress, causing the Axis powers to fall into recession by the 1929 Stock
Market Crash, which ultimately led to the Great Depression.
Clever Connecter:
(How Economic Turmoil After WWI Led to the Great Depression, 02/12/2019, Secondary,
Article/Magazine)
Though there is much discourse surrounding the causes of the Great Depression, it seems as
though many historians can agree with President Herbert Hoover’s claim that the Great
Depression was caused by World War I.
- The disillusionment from World War I led to the United States withdrawing from
international affairs, the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act (mentioned in previous source) is a
solid example of this, though I don’t believe the Act took place until the Great Depression
had already sank its roots in.
- “However, Klein says social changes to the United States as a result of World War I laid
the groundwork for the ensuing economic freefall.” I wonder if these social changes also
laid the foundation for World War II / The Holocaust.
- This article also mentions the idea/connection of the weak American banking system to
the “why” of the Great Depression
Evidence Expert:
-The primary cause of the Great Depression was the war of 1914-1918…” - Hoover(1952
Memoirs)
-Blaming Great War/World War 1
-America came out of the War as the leading world economic power
-America demanded loans to Allies be paid by Germany
-Germany=impoverished, Europe=furtherly unstabilized
-Germany did not want to pay, factories supporting Germany were shut down by Allies to force
payment(1923)
-Hyperinflation of German currency from increased money printing = German mark almost worth
nothing
-Banks = unregulated, taxes = cut, leading to further income inequality
-1929 stock market crash(october)=Germany, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan already in
recession
-GD = fall 1930 - Tariff = highest trade barriers in American history = less spending in a time
when spending is most important
-Europe economy was the opposite of okay = America was on it’s own
Wise Word Wizard:

his Nazi Party.
Super Summarizer:
Source G
President Barack Obama announces the consumer protection act of 2010 in which he
addresses the effects of the Great Recession, admitting that it was caused by financial failure in
Wall Street, an effect of risked loans to borrowers who failed to pay their debts. The bill was said
to be the strongest financial protections in history, enforced by a new consumer watchdog which
is looking out for people as they interact with the financial system. It will also address
transparent risky transactions.
Source H
From 2008-2012, the government was accused of borrowing over $6 billion and struggled to
keep up pension promises for their European allies, while they fell into debt. It gradually got
better in 2012, in which the mortgage-finance bubble converted to a fiscal bubble. Wisconsin
voters are deciding whether or not to recall Gov. Scott Walker, who reduced $3.6 billion in debt
into a $150 million surplus with the help of a tax collection surge. The recall of Walker will affect
more than wisconsin, but permit a stereotype onto voters that they can’t cope with difficult
decisions to decrease debt. However, if Walker doesn’t recall, voters will be labeled as people
who value deficit reduction, and are willing to commit to a good cause. “The era of indebtedness
began with a cultural shift, and it will require a gradual popular shift to reverse.”.
Source I
70% of recent early payment defaults had “fraudulent misrepresentations on their original loan
applications”, according to a recent study by BasePoint Analytics. The study observed more
than three million loans from 1997-2006, the majority of loans piling into the years 2005-2006.
Many of the flawed loans included borrowers who were asked to state their incomes simply
falsified income documents via editing software. Mortgage originators and middlemen turned a
blind eye to the fraud in order to ensure that housing prices keep rising. As a result of the
backfire in 2008, many Americans, regardless of if they committed fraud or not, lost their homes
and jobs.
Source J
Consumer indebtedness rose significantly from 1999 to 2008, with residential real estate taking
up the majority. Other forms of consumer debt also rose sharply, including installment
mortgages and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Rising populations, incomes, stock and
house prices, falling interest rates, and the democratization of credit all contributed to the
increase. The Consumer Credit Panel and Flow of Funds data show that delinquency rates rose
quickly during 2007, reaching 6.7 percent by the end of the year and 8.5 percent in third-quarter
2008. Since then, U.S. consumers have reduced their indebtedness by $1.4 trillion, resulting in
a decrease in the consumer debt balance from $12.7 trillion to $11.3 trillion.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
1)
● 8 million jobs lost
● Many businesses unable to get loans shut down
● Primary cause = financial system breakdown
● Lenders locked consumers in complex loans w/ hidden costs
● Large firms placed risky bets w/ borrowed money
● Reform = everyone follows same rules + hidden fees are reduced greatly + terms will be
clear
● Reform = bad loans are almost no more
● Reduces deceit
2)
● Dot-com bubble, 2008 mortgage bubble, 2012 fiscal bubble
● “Nations around the globe have debt-to-G.D.P. ratios at or approaching 90 percent—the
point at which growth slows and prosperity stalls.”
● Walker(Wisconsin Governor) reduced debt wildly in his state by cutting from Democrat
interest groups
● Recalling Walker will affect much past Wisconsin
3)
● Predatory borrowing = bigger issue?? -> “As much as 70 percent of recent early
payment defaults had fraudulent misrepresentations on their original loan applications,
according to one recent study.” <- 3 million loans between 1997 to 2006, with majority
from 2005-2006
● Applications with misrepresentations were 5X as likely to go into default
● Some borrowers lied about their income and falsified income documents with computers
● Mortgage originators/middlemen did not take the time to confirm income
● A lot of people losing their mortgages/houses committed fraud during the initial
application
4)
● 1999-2008 = substantial increase in consumer debt ($4.6 trillion to $12.7 trillion)
● Residential real estate = 70% of household liabilities debt-wise
● Amounts owed on mortgage installments and HELOCs tripled
● Delinquency and severe delinquency rose sharply in 2008
● Debt decreased somewhat at the end of 2012
Wise Word Wizard:

Unscrupulous - Displaying no moral principles, neither honest or fair.
AIG - American International Group. A large global insurance company that operates in over 80
different countries.
Indebtedness - The act of being in debt.
Fiscal - Used relating to government spending, most likely related to taxes.

Mortgage-Finance Bubble - The value of real estate rises beyond what the population
considers sustainable.
Deficit - A lack of something. A deficiency.
Pundits - An expert in the field, who usually discusses that field to the public population.
Antiquated - Something that is antique, or outdated.
Overdraft Fees - A penalty given by banks to people who have withdrawn more funds than they
have.
Reform - To recreate, usually related to government policy.
Partisan - A devout supporter of a political party or cause.
Partisanship - An unbalanced opinion based towards a certain cause.
Lobbying - The action of influencing politics. Usually done by american corporations.
Consumer Watchdog - An official organization that works to protect the rights of consumers.
Shareholder - Someone who holds a share in a private company.
Incumbent - The holding of a particular position, that needs to be completed as a duty or

responsibility.
Bailouts - When the government uses different kinds of support to prevent a corporation from
collapsing.
Tax-Funded Bailout - When the government uses funds gathered from taxes to prevent the
collapse of a corporation.
Fraud - A person trying to deceive others, typically to try and show off good qualities that they
do not possess.
Fraudulent - When something is obtained deceptively, usually through criminal activity.
Predatory Lending - When unfair or abusive terms are forced upon borrowers.
Predatory Borrowing - When the borrowers are committing fraud by misinterpreting their loan
application. Effectively taking advantage of the system.
BasePoint Analytics - A company who specializes in coming up with predictive analytics
around fraud and risk management in mortgage and credit card industries.
Mortgage Originators - Financial institutions or persons who work with a borrower to complete
a mortgage transaction. Resulting in a mortgage loan.
Default - When borrowers have passed the payment deadline for the return of their borrowed
money.
Covid-19 Resources pt.3

Super Summarizer:
Figure 9
“Down from peak, more than 1 in 4 adults had trouble covering expenses in 2021”. 63 million
adults reported it was somewhat or very difficult for their household to cover expenses in
December of 2020, down from a peak of 38%. In early 2021, the share of adults with trouble
covering expenses aided from the December 2020 relief package. In May, the share progressed
upward due to the fading impact of the third round of stimulus payments, but it remained
statistically unchanged in the following months. Adults in households with children were more
likely to report difficulty paying for usual expenses than those without children: 36 percent,
compared to 24 percent.
Figure 10
Black and Latino adults reported difficulty covering expenses at higher rates than white and
Asian adults, while Native and multiracial adults had the highest rate. Adults with a disability
were more than twice as likely to report difficulty paying for expenses in comparison to adults
without a disability. LGBT adults were more likely than non-LGBT adults to have difficulty
covering expenses. 38 percent of children lived in households with difficulty covering expenses.
The racial demographic of children living in these households include: 57% in Black households,
46% in Latino households, 30%in white households, and 24% in Asian households.
Figure 11
The employment rate in 2020 declined to measures that haven’t been seen since the 1930s. It’s
said that “Jobs were down nearly twice as much in low-paying industries (4.5 percent) as in
medium-wage industries (2.6 percent) and roughly 15 times as much as in high-wage industries
(0.3 percent) during this period.”. For people of color including Latino and Black, the
unemployment rate has been even more travesting, which is said to be a cause of structural
racism in the workforce. Many people during the pandemic were laid off without any financial aid
from the government. This included 21.3 million people, as well as households with children,
which accounted for 5.3 million. “Permanent reforms are needed to fix an underlying system in
which too many unemployed workers get inadequate benefits or no benefits at all.”.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
1)
● (highest 38%, 10 months earlier) 29% of adults in the country reported to struggle with
paying for normal/usual expenses
● Food, rent/mortgage, car payments, medical expenses, student loans = usual expense
● Rescue plan/relief package + increase in jobs = 38% -> 29%
● Families with children = 36%, families without children = 24%
2)
● Households with black/latino/multiracial/lgbtq+/disabled adults had a higher percentage
of struggling to pay usual expenses
3)
● Lower wage jobs were more likely to be terminated during pandemic
● Black/Latino adults were more likely to be terminated than white adults
● “...some 21.3 million people in October 2021, including 5.3 million children, lived in a
family where at least one adult did not have paid work in the last week because of
unemployment or the pandemic…”
Wise Word Wizard:

Week Four
New Deal Crash Course Resources pt. 4
Super Summarizer:
The New Deal was a program of the FDR administration which brought economic relief, as well
as reforms in ideology, industry, and finance. This administration’s objective was to alleviate
unemployment rates, and became known as the Hundred Days project. Agencies like the Works
Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps were established to provide
temporary jobs, employment on construction projects, and youth work in the national forests.
Many of these jobs were construction based, which employed 8.5 million people to work on
bridges and other monuments. Alongside employment and financial aid, the New Deal worked
to avoid any other potential financial crises by regulating the nation’s financial hierarchy via
regulation of stock manipulations and stock practices. A Second New Deal had followed shortly
after in 1935. This New Deal still enforced regulation policies, however, this set was declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, despite the Court ruling in favor of the remaining
legislation. The legacy of the New Deal as a whole allowed the U.S. to recover 10% of their
losses from the Great Depression, and many of the reforms were soon accepted by the entire
nation, leading to the protection of worker’s rights as a permanent constitution.
Clever Connecter:
(The New Deal: Crash Course US History #34, Oct 18, 2013, Secondary, Video)
- Relief: Gave help (money) to those in need; Recovery: Fix economy for a short period of
time, putting people to work; Reform: created to regulate the economy in the future,
preventing future depression.
- FDR brought about the three R’s following the end of Hoover’s presidency. This
connects to the resources from week 1, going further in depth about the aftermath of the
higher stress times of the Great Depression
- Much gray area lies between Recovery and Reform, ex; the 1933 Bank holiday & The
emergency banking act. Recovery: helped the short-term economy by making more
stable banks OR reform: federal deposit insurance prevents bank runs.
- Roosevelt worried about people becoming reliant on government relief handouts so he
preferred programs that provided jobs. This could suggest that FDR may have agreed
with a connection I made in the first historical inquiry. When people get laid off from jobs
and have no incentive to go out and make money in a system like this, they lack a sense
of purpose and end up insecure and reliant on things that may breed instability.
Instability breeds chaos, and chaos towards politicians can lead to negative impacts on
their campaigns.
Evidence Expert:
● National Recovery administration(GD response): the New Deal
● Hoover ran again against Roosevelt
● FDR = end of prohibition
● New Deal = Relief, Recovery, Reform
● New Deal was reformed
● Public Works Administration = construction project, 4 million employees (1933)
● Tennessee valley authority -> built dams to control floods, prevent deforestation, and
provide electricity
● AAA govt had power to raise farm prices by setting production quotas and paying
farmers to plant less food
● African-American farmers suffered the most from this
● Impacted the dust-bowl states the most
● 1936 court struck down the AAA → US vs butler
● 2nd New Deal = less focus on recovery and more on economic security
● Congress of industrial organizations = unionize entire industries
● Best way to combat depression = raise wages so things can be bought
● WPA = employed 3 million each year, ended 1943
● FDR = well liked
● AA’s + union workers became democratic votes
● Liberty = closer to security rather than freedom
● Govt became much more involved in
Wize Word Wizard:

The New Deal - Enacted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, The New Deal was a series of programs and
reforms with the goal of ending the great depression. Enacted between 1933 and 1939.
The New Deal Coalition - A political Coalition in America that supported the Democratic Party
in 1932. Resulted in the Democratic Party Majority.
The Civilian Conservation Corps - An environmental construction and conservation program

that resulted in the opening of three million jobs for young American men. A part of the New
Deal.
The Agricultural Adjustment Act - An act made by the US Government to increase

agricultural prices by reducing the surpluses. The US government paid subsidies to farmers if
they did not plant on portions of their land, and purchased pigs for slaughter that would not be
sold.
The Glass Steagall Act - An act passed by the US Government to prevent commercial banking
companies from investing in the stock market. Effectively splitting commercial banks from
investment banks. The act also led to the creation of the FDIC.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) - A corporation created by the US

Government to provide deposit insurance to depositors in American savings and commercial
banks. This helped create trust in the banking industry.
The National Industrial Recovery Act - An act which allowed the President of the United
States to regulate industry to promote fair wages and stimulate economic recovery. Generally
unsuccessful, as it promoted Monopolies, and caused labor unrest.
The Civil Works Administration - A short term government program that provided temporary
jobs for the millions of unemployed after the great depression.
The Tennessee Valley Authority - A construction project which constructed a series of dams
across the Tennessee Valley River to prevent flooding, and provide cheap electricity for
surrounding states.
The Dust Bowl - A series of droughts and dust storms that crumbled the agricultural economy
in several states around the midwest.
The Wagner Act - Gives the right to employees working within the private sector of the
american industry to form into work unions, and take collective action such as strikes.
Unions - A collective of employees that use their collective ability to ensure a right to fair
representation in the workplace, like; fair hours, good employment conditions, fair pay, etc.
The Social Security Act - A law enacted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, it created the Social
Security Program, and provided insurance against unemployment.
Great Depression Resources pt. 4

Super Summarizer:
“Alphabet” Agencies in Utah County
As soon as Roosevelt came into office, he made the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) of
1933. This made many agencies, nicknamed “alphabet agencies” for their abbreviations, like
CCC, AAA, RA, NYA and WPA as some examples. They did a lot of work putting money back
into the economy, to lots of praise. Along with that, they also helped people with financial relief.
Many programs and things were done with these companies post the great depression to fuel
the economy more. Some of the agencies died out, some stayed around.
P.W.A. in Action
A map that displays the Public Works program and the working facilities, modes of
transportation, and natural habitat conservations it has established across the nation.
Graph of Federal Spending (In millions of dollars), 1929-1945

FDR entered office in 1933 with the unemployment being 25%. “This graph demonstrates that
federal spending in Roosevelt's first two terms was relatively low compared to the spending
associated with World War II.”, With the graph displaying an exponential spike in 1941,
Proponents of federal spending argued that “the government had the power to stimulate the
economy by spending on relief and employment programs.”.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (1933)

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was created by the Banking Act of 1933 (the
Glass-Steagall Act). The FDIC is an independent government agency that protects deposits of
$250,000 or more per insured bank. This is what solved some of the common bank failures that
occurred before 1933, such as the Great Depression, which resulted in a lot of "bank runs"
where large numbers of people attempted to withdraw their money from the banks; this
movement ironically contributed even more so to economic failure. Since FDIC was established,
no depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds as a result of a failure. This proves the
agency as one of the longest-lasting and greatest accomplishments of the New Deal.
“I Will Not Promise the Moon”: Alf Landon Opposes the Social Security Act, 1936
The Social Security Act was enacted in 1935 to provide older Americans with a pension and
unemployment compensation. It was politically moderate and funded by both employees and
employers, but was opposed by groups such as Alf Landon due to its burden on employers and
employees. Landon says the Social Security act will result in the biggest tax burden on
employers. He describes that the tax is imposed in such a way that if the employer is to stay in
business, he must shift the tax to someone else, and end up deriving less money from their
business. He finds the act unjust, as it requires workers to save for a lifetime and invest their
savings in a reserve fund. Landon believes that the government is not true to their word across
the board, and will not carry out efficiently in a family fund context.
Clever Connecter:
(“Alphabet” Agencies in Utah County, May 6, 2016, Secondary, Article)
- The CCC agency needed to allow both experienced and inexperienced workers due to
the economic need, this was most certainly a result of the enactment of the recovery
program. This also permitted residents to apply for positions
(P.W.A. in Action Map)

- “Young Utah studies in cheerful new classrooms” There were volunteer programs at
children's schools in Utah where adults could go do some work at the school. I think that
this quote may be referencing some school renovations done by the older volunteers.
(“Graph of Federal Spending (in millions of dollars), 1929-1945”, accessed May 18, 2023,
Secondary, Graph)
- In the graph description it touches on the unemployment percentage when FDR first
entered office, 25%. In the crash course video it states that by the end of 30s/beginning
of the 40s the rate dropped to about 15%.
- The graph demonstrates that his spending over the course of his 2-term time in office
was significantly lower than the spending associated with World War II. This was also
touched on in the Crash Course video.
What are the various ways the government can intervene economically?
- Providing financial “hand-outs” to low-no income households/families
- Creating & Giving more job opportunities, even to those who don’t have experience in
certain lines of work
- Social Security
(“Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (1933)”, November 18, 2016, Secondary,
Article)
- “Before the creation of FDIC, banks failures were very common, especially during
periodic financial crises (e.g., 1836, 1855, 1875, 1895). When banks failed, depositors
regularly lost their savings, bringing personal hardship and even disaster.” This suggests
that there were many instances that proved America had a weak banking system before
the Great Depression took place. This means there were many opportunities for the
government to learn from their mistakes before the smaller bank disasters became
exponentially larger bank disasters. It seems as though they put off fixing the weak
banking system until it was way late in the game.
- ^^^“The plunge into the Great Depression was led by the collapse of around
one-third of all banks in the United States [4].”
- “The success of the FDIC rests on preventing bank runs and peremptorily closing
troubled banks before they infect others in the system.” SInce the probability of bank
failure increased when people would attempt to make “bank runs”, this quote shows that
if the government had implemented a precautionary similar to the FDIC before events
became economically catastrophic, then there would have been a higher likelihood of
the Great Depression never taking place, at least not to the extent/severity we saw in the
early 1900’s.
- “The financial collapse of 2008-09 was centered on investment banks, which were not
regulated by the FDIC.” Another piece of evidence that suggests that earlier
implementation of a similar program would have been incredibly beneficial to the
economy.
-
(“I Will Not Promise the Moon”: Alf Landon Opposes the Social Security Act, 1936
by Alf Landon, secondary, Historical Article)
- “There is every probability that the cash they pay in will be used for current deficits and
new extravagances. We are going to have trouble enough to carry out an economy
program without having the Treasury flush with money drawn from the workers�”
Despite the way the act is presented to everyone, Alf Landon opposes it because he
doesn’t trust that it will truly be an investment for the employee and employer
Evidence Expert:
1)
● Roosevelt -> office in 1933
● New Deal alphabet agencies -> pumped increasing amounts of money into economy
● Utah was the ninth state to receive the most financial aid per capita in 1933-1939
● Fed had a hand in Utah’s land management before depression, but increased
dramatically during 1930’s
● CCC -> alphabet agency: one of the first, one of the best -> erosion control -> financial
relief and implement conservation plans
● Activities halted in 1942(CCC)
● “...federal legislation reached into the private economic sector, extending credit as well
as mortgage protection to farmers, regulating crop production, and providing social
security to the aged and the disabled.”
● New deal poured millions into public construction/renovation
● Works Progress Administration (WPA) -- construction of Springville Museum of Art
● Most New Deal agencies = relief purposes -> ended up increasing fed
interest/involvement in Utah
● 1930’s Utah = age of modernization
2)
● Map of public works program and how it affects each state
● Common alterations/programs were the addition of schools and/or water reservoir and/or
terraforming
3)
● 1933 = Roosevelt entering office -> unemployment was at 25%
● Federal spending = simulating the economy
● Roosevelt’s spending = relatively low compared to the money spent during WW
4)
● Banking act 1933(Glass-Steagall Act) created the FDIC
● FDIC insures depositors under insured banks for at least $250,000, paid for by insurance
premiums paid by banks
● Before FDIC bank failures were extremely common
● Banks failing = depositors lost savings
● “ Between 1930 and 1933, for example, Americans lost $1.3 billion from 9,000 bank
failures (about $23 billion in today’s dollars).”
● Bank runs = people rush to withdraw money from banks during times of bank failure,
making things worse
● GD was led by the collapse of ⅓ of American banks
● Started 1934(FDIC)
● Minimized bank failures
● FDIC = part of the new deal
5)
● Social security act(1935) = pension for elderly as they age further
● Funded from the employees and employers rather than tax money
● Alf Landon opposes this act
● Can affect/hinder citizens looking for jobs(reemployment)/unemployment increases in
bad times
● Imbalanced enforcement of act -> “Some workers who come under this new Federal
insurance plan are taxed more and get less than workers who come under the State
laws already in force.”
Wize Word Wizard:
Alphabet Agencies - A nickname for the agencies created by The New Deal, as they all have
very prominent abbreviations like the AAA, CCC, and etc.
Public Works Program - A short term government program that provided temporary jobs for
the millions of unemployed after the great depression.
FDIC - A corporation created by the US Government to provide deposit insurance to depositors

in American savings and commercial banks. This helped create trust in the banking industry.
Great Recession Resources pt. 4

Super Summarizer:
The Legacy of the Recovery Act

In 2009, congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in response to the
Great Recession. This act gifted a stimulus package of over $800 billion to federal agencies,
states, localities, for-profit corporations and nonprofit organizations, as well as individuals
through grants, contracts, loans, tax benefits, etc. States and localities also received $219
billion through federal grant programs for health care, transportation, energy, housing, and
education. Despite the Act meeting the requirements of transparency and accountability sought
out for, some agencies struggled with meeting those requirements due to lack of funding,
staffing shortages, and short timelines for spending the funding. As a result, congress passed
the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 to reprimand the mistakes made
throughout the Recovery Act.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
1)
● Recovery act = economic stimulus package with an estimated value of over 800
billion(2009)
● Focused mainly on jumpstarting the economy, while some projects focused on long term
benefits to tech, infrastructure, and the environment
● Shared to Fed agencies, organizations, states, and individuals through forms of
economic assistance(ie loans and grants)
● Grants = main character energy
● Some agencies had issues with paying grant money/meeting requirements because of
“lack of funding for oversight at the state and local levels, staffing shortages, and the
short timelines for spending the funding.”
● DATA act = “requires federal agencies to prepare and submit standardized, accurate
information about the trillions of dollars they spend each year.”
Wize Word Wizard:

The Recovery Act - Passed in 2009, this act was estimated to put in 800 billion dollars into the
economy through a stimulus package in response to the 2008 financial crisis.
The DATA Act - An act that has been introduced to the US Government that takes federal
action to protect the private digital documents of US Citizens.
Covid-19 Resources pt. 4

Super Summarizer:
What's Inside The Senate's $2 Trillion Coronavirus Aid Package?
In 2020, the Senate has passed a $2 trillion coronavirus response bill, known as the CARES
Act, to ensure a faster spread of relief. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
described the bill as “necessary emergency relief and vowed to put partisanship aside to get it
done.”. The bill covers seven main groups that spread to the ones who are priority
compensators including: individuals, small businesses, big corporations, hospitals and public
health, federal safety net, state and local governments, and education. “Cash payments are
estimated to total $300 billion, with most individuals earning less than $75,000 receiving a
one-time cash payment of $1,200. Married couples and families would each receive a check
and families would get $500 per child.”. Employment assistance was significant, as “It adds
$600 per week from the federal government on top of whatever base amount a worker receives
from the state, and adds 13 weeks of unemployment insurance. It also creates a new,
temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program through the end of this year to help
people who lose work as a direct result of the public health emergency.”.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
● Approx 2 trillion relief plan for Covid-19 recession -> aid package #3 from govt
● CARES act ⤴
● Classified as emergency relief
● “There are seven main groups that would see the widest-reaching impacts: individuals,
small businesses, big corporations, hospitals and public health, federal safety net, state
and local governments, and education.” (hyperlinked)
● An extremely long list of relief mapping that can be found through the hyperlinks above
Wize Word Wizard:

The CARES Act - A stimulus bill prepared by the US Government in 2020. Containing 2.2
trillion dollars of relief money for several different areas. Including individuals, small businesses,
large corporations, etc.
Partisanship - An unbalanced opinion based towards a certain cause.
Gross Income - Gross income includes an individual's entire income, including wages,
dividends, capital gains, business income, and retirement income.
Guiding Question Notes (Week 4)

“What are the various ways the government can intervene economically?”
●
Week Five
Super Summarizer:
Graph of U.S. Unemployment Rate, 1930-1945

The accumulation of the unemployment rate during the Great Depression accumulated very
quickly and reached its peak when FDR went into office. As more New Deal programs were
enforced, the unemployment rate gradually decreased, and full employment was solidified
during WWII. Below the text displays a graph depicting the unemployment rate from the years
1930-1945.
Tennessee Valley Area: pictorial map

Map displaying the profile of the Tennessee and Clinch Rivers existing and proposing dams.
A Black New Yorker Describes Life in a CCC Camp

The camps were heavily segregated, and the parts of the camp were of bad quality, with bland
and sometimes undercooked food, hard work and labor, but a good play area and recreation
hall. It left a lot to be desired but it wasn’t terrible. He describes it as a mediocre experience, and
the camp was heavily segregated, so, there was an air of racism to the place, probably.
“Indian New Deal”

John Collier of the Bureau of Indian Affairs revolutionized a once enforced Native American
policy in the late 1800s for the purpose of assimilating Natives to European culture and stripping
them of their culturally-oriented language, religion, clothing, food, etc. During his occupancy at
the IDA, The Meriam Report revealed the poor condition of tribal economies and the utter
destitution in the Indian country. Collier set out to reform Indian policy after President Franklin D.
Roosevelt appointed him to serve as the head of the BIA in 1933. The “Indian New Deal” was
initiated by Collier to preserve what remained of Native culture. The Indian New Deal was
passed, which led to economic development for certain Native American tribes during the
depression. Alongside, many other government acts passed, which prioritized the development
of Native education, health care, and agricultural systems that all could be conducted on their
own reservation. One act in particular, The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA) made funds
available to Native American groups for the purchase of lost tribal lands, allowing tribes to vote
on their own council as a form of self-government.
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Government Handbook Excerpt

The bill for the Indian Reorganization Act, and a vote was held that let the tribes accept or
accept the bill 71 out of 263 tries rejected it, so that they could protect and keep their
self-governing ways.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
1)
● Unemployment rate rose sharply during the GD, lowered eventually with New Deal acts
(highest 25%)
● Rose again during 1938 to just under 20%, then fell to its lowest at 1-2% during 1944
2)
● A map of existing + proposed dams for the Tennessee River + Clinch Rivers
● 1939
3)
● AA’s experienced widespread segregation, racism, and prejudice within CCC camps
● Wandall reports both friendly interactions and vicious ones, but seems overall okay with
the job experience
4)
● 1930’s, BIA Commissioner (John Collier, former Secretary of the IDA) = Set out to
preserve what was left of Native culture instead of total assimilation through the IND
● IND funded bilingual education
● IND held a separate division of the CCC to provide Natives with unemployment solutions
● Johnson-O’Malley Act = offered states govt money to support Native welfare programs
● IRA(1934) = Funds be available to Natives for purchase of lost tribal land
5)
● 192 tribes voted to accept the IRA, while 71 did not
● Many of the “no” tribes rejected the act to continue their self-governing systems
Wize Word Wizard:

The Dawes Act - The Dawes act imposed a new government regulated system of land rights
upon Native Americans, forcing them to treat their tribal land as private property. The act also
illegalized Native American cultural practices, and forced the assimilation of European American
culture onto its people.
The “Indian New Deal” - A compilation of acts that provide Native Americans with the ability to
maintain their culture, and receive support for the great depression.
The Indian Reorganization Act - The premier act of The Indian New Deal, it’s primary purpose
was to give Native Americans more freedom from the federal government, and allow more
self-governing practices to be put in place. Furthermore, funds were authorized to complete a
revolving credit program for purchasing of tribal land, and education.
The Chippewa Tribe - A tribe of Native Americans located in Minnesota. A large tribal charter
who voted to enact the I.R.A. within their territories. Repairing some of the damages done by
the Dawes Act.
Reservation Business Committee - The governing committee of the Fond Du Lac band of
Lake Superior Chippewa.

Super Summarizer:
Bailout of Financial Sector during Great Recession was a Bad Deal for Taxpayers
During the 2008 bailout, U.S. Taxpayers did not receive fair return according to the University of
Michigan’s Ross School of Business. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was a
government intervention implemented to aid struggling financial firms as a result of market
collapse. These means of methodology provoked the question of whether or not the return was
sufficient to compensate taxpayers for the risk they took. A paper by professor and chair of
finance Amiyatosh Purnanandam and Thomas Flanagan, a Ross doctoral student, questioned
whether banks paid a fair return to taxpayers on TARP investments. The paper compared
TARP's return with returns in reference to securities similarly risked in private markets. The
paper concluded that TARP helped both the financial and real sectors of the economy, resulting
in a recovery in financial markets and positive returns on private market securities. The TARP
bailout's return was deemed unfair, as it disproportionately benefited recipient banks, resulting in
billions of dollars in subsidies. Future bailouts should ensure banks share their gains with
taxpayers, promoting a fair system that encourages socialism and capitalism.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
● TARP was described as taxpayers getting back their full investment plus interest
● Was the return good enough for the risk??⤴(Study by Amiyatosh Purnanandam)
● From a risk return perspective, the TARP was not fair
Wize Word Wizard:

Bailouts - When the government uses different kinds of support to prevent a corporation from
collapsing.
Troubled Assets Relief Program - Established by the US Treasury, the TARP is responsible
for establishing programs to aid in the stabilization of the US economic system, restart economic
growth, and prevent avoidable foreclosures.
Covid-19 Resources pt.5

Super Summarizer:
Covid 19 economic crisis: relief, recovery, reform
Federal relief policies significantly aided in preventing hardship during the pandemic and
economic crises. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) showed a 10 million-year decline
in poverty in 2020, with 53 million people above the poverty line. Relief legislation in 2020 and
2021 provided three rounds of EIPs (Economic Impact Payments), lifting 11.7 million people
above poverty line, increasing food assistance, and boosting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program) benefits. During the pandemic, homelessness and housing instability rates
plummeted in the US. With high health risks and staffing challenges, congress invested in relief
bills, including emergency rental assistance, which helped prevent evictions and stabilize
housing. Eviction rates in 2022 rose due to inadequate rental assistance programs, impacting
3.7 million children in poverty. In 2020, Capitol Hill lawmakers settled on a stimulus check of
$600 per person. However, some argue the money fueled inflation, affecting supply rather than
demand issues. Many tenants never applied or received aid before the application deadline.
The program was ended however, and Los Angeles County tenant groups sued for unlawful
cuts off of 18 months of rent assistance, claiming eligibility requirements and online application
difficulties.
Clever Connecter:
Evidence Expert:
● Fed relief programs turned what was likely going to be a severe slope into poverty into
an overall decrease in poverty
● Citizens with an income below the poverty line = 10 million below the count for the
previous year(2020)
● Without govt assistance, poverty would have increased by 8 million people
● Decline in poverty rate was the largest in 50 years
● Govt assistance raised 53 million people above the poverty line in 2020
● 3 rounds of stimulus = CARES act(2020), Coronavirus Relief act(2020), American
Rescue Plan act(2021)
● Food was by far the most spent on with stimulus money
● CARES act = strongly helped the economy -> when expired, job growth came to a
standstill, causing the launch of another major relief package
● This caused job growth to start up again
● “In total, the IRS issued over 480 million EIPs, with each round reaching 146 to 175
million households.”
● First two rounds of relief = 11.7 million above the poverty line(2020)
● Food banks became crucial for some families
● Pandemic-EBT program = for households with issues buying/getting enough food
● Pandemic = homelessness problem increased, health risks everywhere for otherwise
homed or homeless
● “Congress made substantial investments across several relief bills — including $46.6
billion for the new Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program, $5 billion for 70,000
Emergency Housing Vouchers, $5 billion for the HOME Investments Partnerships
program, and $4 billion for the Emergency Solutions Grants-COVID program.”
● 5.7 million < = received ERA assistance, which is likely why evictions didn’t surge after
the expiration of the EM
● “Congress made substantial investments across several relief bills — including $46.6
billion for the new Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program, $5 billion for 70,000
Emergency Housing Vouchers, $5 billion for the HOME Investments Partnerships
program, and $4 billion for the Emergency Solutions Grants-COVID program.”
● 2022 increase in eviction rates in many areas
● Treasury Department -> Child Tax Credit to 61 million< children in 2021 december
● CTC reduced child poverty
● These payments were used on necessities, like food and utilities, and education
according to the Census Bureau’s household pulse survey
● Pandemic recession = much deeper, but shorter than the 2008 Recession
● Some argue that stimulus money could’ve caused high inflation
● Others argue that stimulus money, whilst not completely clear of fault, is definitely not the
most impactful reason for inflation
● 53% of california’s distressed tenants did not apply for relief, only 16% received aid
● Applying for relief was a difficult and unclear process + kind of inaccessible
Wize Word Wizard:

Supplemental Poverty Measure - A measure of economic insufficiency, or deprivation.
The CARES Act - A stimulus bill prepared by the US Government in 2020. Containing 2.2
trillion dollars of relief money for several different areas. Including individuals, small businesses,
large corporations, etc.
The American Rescue Plan - A 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package
Economic Impact Payments - The way in which stimulus payments were given to individuals,
they did not qualify for taxation on a person's taxable income, or income tax. The sum of
payment is based on the person’s adjusted gross income.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - A program that provides people with
incomes that lie below the federal poverty line with funds to purchase food.
Pandemic-EBT Program - A federal program that supplied food to people who could not afford
it during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Eviction Moratorium - An act that prevented the eviction of tenants from their homes during the
COVID-19 Pandemic.
Child-Tax-Credit - Tax credit for parents with dependent children, the funds received can be
dependent on income.
Assembly Bill-2179 - A bill that prolonged the period a tenant had to pay their rent during
COVID-19.

Historical Inquiry - Project Notes

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Historical Inquiry - Project Notes

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Week One

The Great Depression Video Notes

Wize Word Wizard (Julian):

Installment Buying - The process of purchasing an asset over time.

Great Depression Resources

Hoovervilles: The Shantytowns of the Great Depression

Senate Committee on Manufactures, 1932

Frederick Savage Interview

● (Hoovervilles: The Shantytowns of the Great Depression, 4/4/2017, Secondary,

● (Interview with Mr. Frederick Savage, 1936-1940, Primary, Interview) Industrial

● (Senate Committee on Manufactures, 1932, Primary, Interview) Shows perspectives

Evidence Expert: (Ally)

Wize Word Wizard (Julian):

Hooverville - A term used to describe a shantytown during Hoover’s presidential term.

Tariff - A duty or tax imposed on a certain class of imports or exports.

Cars On The Road - Number of “car” registered vehicles owned by americans.

Infirmities - A weakness, either physical, metaphorical, or mental.

Annexation - The act of adding another country’s territory to another country’s.

2008 Financial Crisis and Great Depression

Wize Word Wizard:

CDOs - A collateralized debt obligation is an asset-backed deposit for a loan.

Great Recession Resources

(Conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, 2011, Primary, Government

(Conclusions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Dissenting Statement, 2011,

Wize Word Wizard:

American International Group - A multinational American finance and insurance organization.

Interconnections - A connection between two or more things.

Globalize - To develop international connections.

Pervasive - An influence spread throughout an area.

Permissiveness - An excessive amount of freedom regarding one’s behavior.

Wize Word Wizard:

Great Depression Resources pt.2

Wize Word Wizard:

Hooverville - A term used to describe a shantytown during Hoover’s presidential term.

Pulitzer-Prize - A prestigious award given by Columbia University for achievements in literature,

Tariff - A duty or tax imposed on a certain class of imports or exports.

Cars On The Road - Number of “car” registered vehicles owned by americans.

Infirmities - A weakness, either physical, metaphorical, or mental.

Annexation - The act of adding another country’s territory to another country’s.

Great Recession Resources pt.2

Wize Word Wizard:

American International Group - A multinational American finance and insurance organization.

Interconnections - A connection between two or more things.

Globalize - To develop international connections.

Pervasive - An influence spread throughout an area.

Permissiveness - An excessive amount of freedom regarding one’s behavior.

Covid 19 Resources pt.2

Wize Word Wizard:

Great Depression Resources pt.3

Wise Word Wizard:

Infirmities - A weakness, either physical, metaphorical, or mental.

Annexation - The act of adding another country’s territory to another country’s.

Great Recession Resources pt.3

Wise Word Wizard:

Indebtedness - The act of being in debt.

Fiscal - Used relating to government spending, most likely related to taxes.

Deficit - A lack of something. A deficiency.

Antiquated - Something that is antique, or outdated.

Reform - To recreate, usually related to government policy.

Partisan - A devout supporter of a political party or cause.

Partisanship - An unbalanced opinion based towards a certain cause.

Lobbying - The action of influencing politics. Usually done by american corporations.