The 1930s: Behavioral Objectives and Formative Evaluation

The Great Depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade.

Main causes for the Great Depression:

• the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920s which in turn created an unstable economy
  According to a study done by the Brookings Institute, in 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%2. That same top 0.1% of Americans in 1929 controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all.
  Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million in the same year that the average personal income was $7505. By present day standards, where the average yearly income in the U.S. is around $18,5006, Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year.
• the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade

Interesting facts about the Depression:

• Unemployment grew to five million in 1930, and up to thirteen million in 1932
• School and Society's "A Survey of Unemployed Alumni" (1934) revealed that, of the graduates of 54 institutions, 21,974 were without jobs.