The Great Depression was the most catastrophic economic disaster in American history. It affected the entire United States, from the sea to the beautiful shining sea. Old and young, rich and poor, black and white, all suffered the consequences of the extravagant Roaring Twenties. Businesses closed, everyone was up to their necks in debt, banks failed, and the Midwest was soon a dust bowl of salvaged farming and equipment. With the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in effect, deflation, everything imaginable purchased on credit, and unreliable loans, all added up eventually led to the stock market crash and the Great Depression. The Great Depression was caused by one main thing, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Rate. Enacted in June 1930, this tariff inflated the price of imported goods by as much as fifty percent. This was done by President Hoover to “increase the protection of [American] farmers against agricultural imports” (Investopedia.com). A large number of economists signed a petition to stop his reckless actions because they anticipated the negative reaction of other countries and the fact that “[they] cannot increase employment by restricting trade” (newspaper article “The Baltimore Sun” by Thomas Sowell). The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed anyway, and just as the signers had predicted, foreign countries raised their tariffs on American goods causing businesses to close and prices of goods to rise. In contrast to inflation, gross domestic product and consumer confidence have actually deflated due to all the disappearing businesses [farms – the dust bowl] and unemployment. In reaction to this terrible event, President Roosevelt passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in 1934, encouraging global trade and supporting the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT…half of the document….When nothing could grow because a gusts of wind sent a cloud of dust half a mile or more high, farmers could not repay their debts or bank loans leading to banks failing and businesses closing and so began the downward spiral into the Great Depression (“Horses at half broken” by Jeannette Walls).The Great Depression was the most catastrophic economic disaster in American history, and it was highly avoidable. Although it may have caused many horrible events to occur, the Depression was a valuable lesson for America and the entire world avoid outrageously high tariffs, extreme deflation, excessive “credit buying” and countless loans we have not yet emerged from our greedy and narrow-minded minds. Works CitedInvestopedia.comThe Baltimore SunLeague of. World Economic Survey of NationsUSlegal.comHalf Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls