The Great Depression was a time when the United States was in an economic slump from approximately 1929 to 1939. People were not employed, they were not able to find jobs. Banks stopped lending and people stopped borrowing money. Farmers could not sell their produce and food was rotting. Congress was not able to come up with any solution. People were asking banks to give their deposits.

The first World War upset the international balance of power that resulted in economic shock. The gold standard for currencies was suspended to recover from the first world war economic expenses. This caused inflexibility in domestic and international financial markets that was further complicated by additional issues in late 1920s and early 1930s. The United States Stock Market Crash in 1929 made the matters more difficult. 

Currency devaluation and monetary expansion played a key role in recovery. Countries like Britain that devalued their currencies were able to recover early, whereas the United States took longer to recover due to slow devaluation of its currency. Without worry of gold movements or exchange rates, devaluation had let countries enlarge their money supply. The countries that had greater recovery from the Great Depression had taken more advantage over this freedom. Monetary expansion started in early 1933, which had increased money supply in the United States, caused by the large inflow of gold. The large inflow of gold was partly due to the increasing political tension in Europe leading to World War II. World War II, which rose partly because of the Great Depression, had brought this economic crisis to an end.