Page 15 - Book5E

CHAPTER 2
Why We Spend
The Great Depression was an economic downturn that started in 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. During the Great Depression, many people left the city to return to their hometowns in farming communities, where they could raise hens for eggs and cows for milk. The poverty of some who had once
had decent jobs was frightening. People literally lived in shacks made of orange crates, used cardboard to sole their shoes and pulled out their own teeth because they couldn’t afford a dentist.
Since World War II, the American
economy has technically had nine
recessions, as economists define them.
During these recessions, households have found many ways to save: less meat, smaller cars, fewer telephone calls, lower thermostats and lapsed insurance policies.
During the recession of the 1970s, morticians even reported more requests for cremations, which are less expensive than burials. In the 1980s recession, people cut back not only on the usual consumer goods of refrigerators, washers, dryers and stoves, but people also cut back on carpeting, furniture, tools and liquor. Many workers also agreed to salary freezes or reductions rather than lose their jobs.
The chains of habit are generally too weak to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken.
—Samuel Johnson
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