The superficial wealth of the late 1920s hid troubling weaknesses that would ultimately lead to the Great Depression of the 1930s. A number of key basic industries, such as textiles, steel and railroads, barely made a profit. Railroads lost business to new forms of transportation, such as trucks, buses, and private automobiles, while texti

Although many Americans appeared prosperous during the 1920s, in fact they were living beyond their means. They often bought goods on credit, an arrangement in which consumers agreed to buy now and pay later for purchases. By making credit easily available, businesses encouraged Americans to pile up a large consumer debt. Many people then had trouble paying off their growing debts. Faced with debt, consumers cut back on spending.

le mills faced competition from foreign producers in Japan, India, China, and Latin America. Mining and lumbering, which had expanded to supply wartime needs during World War I, faced diminished demand for their goods in peacetime. Coal mining was especially hard-hit, in part due to stiff competition from new forms of energy, including hydroelectric power, fuel oil, and natural gas. Even the boom industries of the 1920s, automobiles, con

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World War, , America Mining, unequal distribution, unequal distribution income, world war, distribution income,