Australia and the Great Depression
Why did Australia lead the world into Depression in the late 1920s and suffer its effects so gravely and for so long?
Australia suffered significantly during the Great Depression of the late 1920s. Australia was one of the worst effected countries in the World. This essay will look at why Australia lead the world into Depression in the late 1920s and why it suffered from it's effects for so long. A depression is defined as "A period of drastic decline in a national or international economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment." 1 During a depression money becomes limited which in turn leads to businesses going bankrupt and causing workers to lose their jobs. This usually leads to a downward spiral that can continue for some time. The Great Depression was one of the most severe depressions in modern times. A depression can be situational, regional or even global. The Great Depression is considered to have begun in 1929 after the stock market crash in Wall Street. 8 The effects of this depression were felt around the entire world. This caused a ripple effect onto the rest of the world due to the large dependence on the American economy. Australia had already been in a bad economic situation with high government loans and large unemployment 9. This essay will look at the causes of the depression in Australia. It will look at why the export based economy of Australia caused Australia to become one of the hardest hit countries of the depression, why Australia's economic policies were inadequate to help the Australian economy recover, and finally look at why Australia's large foreign debt caused it to suffer so gravely from the depression.
The export based economy was one of the main reasons why Australia was hit so hard during the Great Depression, and was the reason why Australia was the one of the first countries to go into the depression. "The main burden is being borne by the growing numbers of unemployed and by the
Australia suffered significantly during the Great Depression of the late 1920s. Australia was one of the worst effected countries in the World. This essay will look at why Australia lead the world into Depression in the late 1920s and why it suffered from it's effects for so long. A depression is defined as "A period of drastic decline in a national or international economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment." 1 During a depression money becomes limited which in turn leads to businesses going bankrupt and causing workers to lose their jobs. This usually leads to a downward spiral that can continue for some time. The Great Depression was one of the most severe depressions in modern times. A depression can be situational, regional or even global. The Great Depression is considered to have begun in 1929 after the stock market crash in Wall Street. 8 The effects of this depression were felt around the entire world. This caused a ripple effect onto the rest of the world due to the large dependence on the American economy. Australia had already been in a bad economic situation with high government loans and large unemployment 9. This essay will look at the causes of the depression in Australia. It will look at why the export based economy of Australia caused Australia to become one of the hardest hit countries of the depression, why Australia's economic policies were inadequate to help the Australian economy recover, and finally look at why Australia's large foreign debt caused it to suffer so gravely from the depression.
The export based economy was one of the main reasons why Australia was hit so hard during the Great Depression, and was the reason why Australia was the one of the first countries to go into the depression. "The main burden is being borne by the growing numbers of unemployed and by the