Kidsville Connection – March 2020
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, economics is a social science concerned chie y with description and analysis of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. ere are people who study patterns in how much people earn, how much companies produce and distribute and how much people consume of di erent products. These people are called economists. Something interesting that economists have found is that these all change — production, distribution, consumption, etc., based on a variety of factors. An economic expansion, or boom, is when companies are producing a lot of products and consumers are spending a lot on goods and services. Most people who want jobs are able to nd work during economic growth periods. A recession is a period of reduced economic activity, and a depression is a period of low general economic activity marked especially by rising levels of unemployment. The worst depression in U. S. history was from 1929-1939. It was the longest and most severe economic downturn in the history of the Western world. e stock market crashed in 1929, causing millions of investors to lose money. Without investments, companies stopped producing as much and had to get rid of workers. This left many people with no way to earn money to pay their bills and take care of their families. At the height of the depression, between 13 and 15 million people were unemployed. The U.S. was not the only country a ected by the Great Depression. Because there was so much trade between countries, everyone noticed when America stopped producing and exporting many of its goods. Because of this, Europe was also devastated by the nancial downturn, especially Poland, Germany and Austria.
