Summary 

The paper analyzes the dramatic events of the 30s of the last century that went down in history in the name of the Great Depression. Almost a century has passed, and debates are still ongoing about the causes of the crisis. The point of view is diverse. Some of them complement each other, but some points of view are completely contradictory.

One group of researchers and experts argues that the crisis of the 30s could have been avoided.

Others believe that the crisis was inevitable, it was the result of historical, economic, psychological laws, etc. They believe that such crises are not only possible, but also inevitable.

There is another point of view. It seems that the crisis of the 30s was the result of the mistakes of the "monetary authorities." In this sense, the impression is that the Fed has mismanaged the years preceding the stock market panic and the first days of the panic itself. In particular, the classics of monetarism, Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz, in their fundamental study, Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960, argue that the crisis was provoked by the Federal Reserve. The latter is responsible for creating a “crisis of confidence”, since banks were not provided with loans on time, so the entire wave of bankruptcy began. In their opinion, measures to expand bank lending, which had been carried out since 1932, could have been implemented earlier, especially in 1930 or 1931.

The crisis analysis of the 1930s was and remains the subject of heated debate. In short, the debate about the true causes of the Great Depression continues to this day, but one thing is certain: the economic crisis of the 1930s is a good lesson to draw the right conclusions, which must ensure that such devastating global economic crises never happen again.

Keywords: Great Depression, Stock Exchange, Panic, Recession, Downturn, Crisis, Central Bank, Federal Reserve.