October 29, 1929 marked the beginning of the Great Depression, a depression that forever changed the United States of America. The stock market crash was inevitable considering the luxurious lifestyle of the 1920s. Some of the disturbing signs that led to the crash were high unemployment, declining car sales, and the bankruptcy of many agricultural businesses. Consumerism played a key role in the stock market crash of 1929 because Americans speculated on stocks hoping they would rise in their favor. They would invest in these stocks at a low rate, which would give them a false sense of wealth prompting them to invest in even more stocks at the same low rate. When they bought these stocks at such a low rate they never made enough money to pay them back, thus contributing to the crash of 1929. Overproduction of consumer goods also contributed to the crash. When companies started mass producing goods, they didn't need as many workers, so they laid them off. Even though there was an abundance of mass-produced, cheap goods because of this, so many people now had no work, so goods were not purchased. Although consumerism and overproduction partly caused the Great Depression from 1920 to 1929, the unequal distribution of wealth and income was the most significant catalyst. From 1920 to 1929, consumerism partly caused the Great Depression due to speculation and installment purchases. Speculation is the act of investing in a security with the hope of a large gain but with the risk of a large loss. Many investors were sure that the stocks they bought would rise, so they took out large loans that, once the market crashed and all the money ran out, they would never be able to pay off a... paper... Excessive speculation in the end of the 1920s kept the stock market artificially high, but inevitably led to the Great Crash. Overproduction may have seemed like a good idea, but in the long run it severely damaged the United States as the agricultural sector collapsed, workers were laid off, and purchasing levels across the country were at historic lows. These speculators, combined with overproduction and the maldistribution of wealth, caused the collapse of the American economy. Today, our government still debates who should own the nation's wealth and whether the richest should pay higher taxes than the least rich. Some may argue that the government should have used laissez faire and kept its hands off the people's affairs and let the people sort things out for themselves. Regardless, the country has done a great job making changes and not allowing things to get as bad as they have over the years ’20..