Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Economics

Chapter

Macro Economics: Introduction

Question:

By what percentage did the aggregate output of USA fell during the great depression between the years 1929 to 1933?

Options:

About 44 percent

About 55 percent

About 33 percent

About 20 percent

Correct Answer:

About 33 percent

Explanation:

The correct answer is option 3: About 33 percent

The Great Depression of 1929 and the subsequent years saw the output and employment levels in the countries of Europe and North America fall by huge amounts. It affected other countries of the world as well. Demand for goods in the market was low, many factories were lying idle, workers were thrown out of jobs. In USA, from 1929 to 1933, unemployment rate rose from 3 per cent to 25 per cent (unemployment rate may be defined as the number of people who are not working and are looking for jobs divided by the total number of people who are working or looking for jobs). Over the same period aggregate output in USA fell by about 33 per cent. These events made economists think about the functioning of the economy in a new way. The fact that the economy may have long lasting unemployment had to be theorised about and explained. Keynes’ book was an attempt in this direction. Unlike his predecessors, his approach was to examine the working of the economy in its entirety and examine the interdependence of the different sectors. The subject of macroeconomics was born.