ABSTRACT
The great depression of the 1930s had its origin in the United States. It is true that signs of declining production had already appeared at various times between late 1927 and mid-1929 in a number of countries, including Australia, Germany, Canada and Argentina, and that commodity prices in the world as a whole began to fall in the second half of 1928. But the economic crisis did not become widespread and severe until after the industrial downturn in the United States in mid-1929 and the collapse of the security market in the October of that year. It is usual therefore to date the beginning of the world depression from the American stock market crash, for the subsequent collapse of the American economy not only intensified the economic difficulties of those countries already suffering from depression, but also brought about a rapid economic decline in most other parts of the world.
