The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one, which spread to virtually the entire industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920"s, and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The misdistribution of wealth in the 1920"s existed on many levels. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and...
stores. From 1919 to 1928 the construction industry grew by around $5 billion dollars, nearly 50%.

All of these factors played an enormous role in the miscalculation of projected earnings for 1929. All the revenue generated throughout the decade lead consumers and economists alike to believe that there would be great cause for further increase throughout the next fiscal year. But, because this wasn't so, and not many of the companies had turned a profit in the last quarter of 1929, almost all stocks plummeted to zero causing billions of dollars to disappear from flow within the American public.