Zach Fraysier's Profile

The gross national product (GNP), the total of all goods and services produced
each year, fell from $104.4 billion in 1929 to $74.2 billion in 1933, setting
back the GNP per capita rate by twenty years.

In addition, Hoover obtained new funds from Congress to cut down the number of
farm foreclosures. The Home Loan Bank Act helped prevent the foreclosure of home
mortgages.

Referred to as a "bull market," it was characterized by rigorous buying and
selling—not necessarily for long-term investment, but to make a quick profit
while prices continued to rise. This type of speculation was very dangerous
because it was often accomplished using borrowed money.

Another contributing factor might have been the fact that there were few
government regulations over business, the stock trade, and banking in the period
preceding the market boom and during the subsequent collapse.