Detroit, Michigan in the US 1930’s. Qualifications obviously weren’t the end-all during the Great Depression. Should such a thing happen again, knowledge of the past can’t hurt.
What survived? Just in case we want to learn how to do something. Manufacturing and Construction, Farmers struggling with low prices and overproduction, Government Jobs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided employment through public works projects, including infrastructure and conservation efforts.
People often sold homemade items such as baked goods, quilts, and handwoven baskets. They also sold fish, clams, and crabs, or grew and sold produce.
Many took on housecleaning, childcare, shoveling snow, mowing lawns, and making deliveries. Selling items like shoes, sewing, and newspapers were common for survival, with some even renting out rooms in their homes, early versions of Airbnb, to earn extra income.
Food and essential household products continued to thrive, still needed during the economic downturn.
The recovery from the Great Depression was a prolonged process that varied across different countries.
The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until approximately 1939. A Decade! Ouch.
In most countries, recovery began in 1933. In the United States, early signs of recovery were visible in 1933, but progress was slow and uneven. Despite improvements, the U.S. economy did not return to its 1929 Gross National Product (GNP) levels for over a decade. Unemployment remained high throughout the 1930s. In 1940, the U.S. unemployment rate was still around 15%, down from its peak of 25% in 1933.
The recovery was interrupted by another recession from May 1937 to June 1938, which temporarily halted progress.
Here’s the kicker. Some would turn this into a new strategy: Many economists believe that World War II played a significant role in completing the recovery process. By 1941, the U.S. economy had recovered to within about 10% of its long-run trend path. The massive war spending and mobilization for World War II at the end of 1941 finally eliminated the last effects of the Great Depression, bringing the U.S. unemployment rate below 10%.
Countries that abandoned the gold standard earlier, such as Britain in 1931, tended to recover more quickly than those that held onto it longer, like the United States (which effectively devalued its currency in 1933).
