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When we last left the United States of America in our economic telling of history (in this episode of Summer School), it was the early 1900s and the country's leaders were starting to feel like they had the economic situation all figured out, with just one paper currency in circulation and a central bank to help stabilize the monetary supply.
Flash forward a decade or so, and the financial picture was still looking pretty good as America emerged from the first World War. But then, everything came crashing down with the stock market collapse of 1929. Businesses closed, banks collapsed, one in four people was unemployed, families couldn't make rent, the economy was broken. And this was happening all over the world.
Today we'll look at how leaders around the globe intervened to turn the international economy around, and in the process, how the Great Depression rapidly transformed the relationship between government and business forever.
We cover:
- Laissez-faire economics
- The gold standard
- Fiat currency
- The New Deal
- Keynesian economics
This series is hosted by Robert Smith and produced by Audrey Dilling. Our project manager is Devin Mellor. This episode was edited by Planet Money Executive Producer Alex Goldmark and fact-checked by Sofia Shchukina.
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NPR Source Audio – "Lost Situation," "Rumba Desolato," "Elmund Fandango," "Janus Dear," and "Back to the Great Depression" by John Pinamonti.
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