the great depression it's often framed as a time when everyone was poor as a result of stock market speculation, but obviously some people win when others lose in the stock market, and the market in general. so not everyone was poor, and a ton of large companies of today have their origins in this time period. why did this decade stand out amongst all the others as particularly bad? did people just stop trading with each other? i have a hard time believing that's the case. something about the idea of a global depression that can only be resolved with war manufacturing doesn't pass the sniff test for me.  anybody else have any insights on this era?
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