The Great Depression

The situation which developed after the end of World War I was one of the primary factors in the Great Depression which would soon follow. The culmination of World War I left the World in an unstable socio-political status. This was particularly true in the United States. .
             During the war the average household had experienced considerable changes in their spending and credit patterns (Kubik, 1996). The American consumer was captivated with consumer goods as they had been at no other point in history (Kubik, 1996). Not only were the catalogs and storefronts filled with desirable items like the radio, the automobile, and household electrical appliances they were complemented by new forms of credit possibilities and selling techniques (Kubik, 1996). A people who before had existed on a cash basis were now lured by the possibilities of installment financing (Kubik, 1996). .
             Some scholars believe that the transition of our society from cash purchases to installment plans helped propel this country into the Great Depression. After the war the fast lifestyle and the associated spending quickly came to a halt and this is believed to be a causative factor in the Great Depression (Kubik, 1996). This, of course, was not the only cause but it is one very probable one. The many issues surrounding consumer credit were a very hot item of conversation among citizens and governmental officials alike during the period. Much of the attitude of the day was concern over the moral consequences of the new patterns of consumption (Kubik, 1996). Kubik (1996, PG) observes:.
             "The notion that thrift lay at the very heart of economic prosperity dominated public discourse during the interwar years. "Saving and foresight," a widely used Principles text instructed, were simply "indispensable in the capitalistic era in which we live and work" [Ely et al. 1930, 137]. Accepted as the source of both individual and national economic well-being, saving received widespread moral sanction.