Changes

Record keeping and even economic definitions then were not what they are today. By using the Dow Jones Industrial Average (which is practically the only measurement available in real time that scans the entire period) the Dow did not get back to the level it was at in 1929 until 1949 (160 pts on the Dow).  Other economic indexes either did not  exist, or were developed later, often by guess work.  For example, the oft quotes unemployment rate of 25% which  peaked in 1932 is only guess work based upon observations in New York City.  No one knows what the real national figures were, or what it actually had been in places like Arkansas or Oklahoma. Gross output figures such as [[GDP]] did not exist either.

Record keeping and even economic definitions then were not what they are today. By using the Dow Jones Industrial Average (which is practically the only measurement available in real time that scans the entire period) the Dow did not get back to the level it was at in 1929 until 1949 (160 pts on the Dow).  Other economic indexes either did not  exist, or were developed later, often by guess work.  For example, the oft quotes unemployment rate of 25% which  peaked in 1932 is only guess work based upon observations in New York City.  No one knows what the real national figures were, or what it actually had been in places like Arkansas or Oklahoma. Gross output figures such as [[GDP]] did not exist either.

It was not until 1949 that [[living standards]] and peacetime [[employment]] returned to something like it was prior to 1929.  The New Ordeal is evident today throughout American cities where one can see a distinct gap in the building and construction trades that took place in the decades of the 1930's and 40's.  Little was built beyond quonset huts, tin structures with a semi-circular shape and a timber frame underneath. And what was built was either extremely expensive, or built by the government usually for military purposes.

It was not until 1949 that [[living standards]] and peacetime [[employment]] returned to something like it was prior to 1929.  The effects of the Great Depression is evident today throughout American cities where one can see a distinct gap in the building and construction trades that took place in the decades of the 1930's and 40's.  Most new construction of the period was accomplished by the New Deal's Work Progress Administration (WPA) which put many unemployed Americans to work building bridges, post offices, and other government buildings. The home loan guarantee feature of the GI Bill and the employment of rapid construction techniques (perfected by army engineers and navy sea bees during WWII) would result in a boom in postwar suburban housing. The most famous example of this is William Levitt and the creation of Levittown, NY.

 

==Further reading==

==Further reading==