Changes

* GDP fell drastically, with declines of 30-50% in most countries.  

* GDP fell drastically, with declines of 30-50% in most countries.  

* Prices for commodities like crops, petroleum, raw materials and coal fell very sharply. This was '''deflation''' and it made the burden of debt higher and sabotaged long-term planning.

* Prices for commodities like crops, petroleum, raw materials and coal fell very sharply. This was '''deflation''' and it made the burden of debt higher and sabotaged long-term planning.

* Unemployment soared, with the highest rates in heavy manufacturing.  It reached 20-30% in major countries.<ref> "...government efforts -- first under Hoover and then under FDR -- to prop up wages despite falling prices led to a full decade of double-digit unemployment" [http://www.conservativebookclub.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c7348 The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal]

* Unemployment soared, with the highest rates in heavy manufacturing.  It reached 20-30% in major countries.<ref> "...government efforts -- first under Hoover and then under FDR -- to prop up wages despite falling prices led to a full decade of double-digit unemployment" [http://www.conservativebookclub.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c7348 The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal] </ref>

* Wage rates did NOT fall sharply, but hours per week of full-time workers fell. Workers were very reluctant to quit their jobs to look for a better one.

* Wage rates did NOT fall sharply, but hours per week of full-time workers fell. Workers were very reluctant to quit their jobs to look for a better one.

* Older workers without jobs were rarely hired; if they had jobs they delayed retirement.  

* Older workers without jobs were rarely hired; if they had jobs they delayed retirement.