Most brokers required cash payment in full for stock purchases. One of the most important causes of the Great Depression was the fact that during the 1920s
government regulation and trust busting had stifled free enterprise.
there was a fundamental maldistribution of purchasing power.
not enough profits were plowed back into business as new capital investment.
low tariff policies had benefited foreign competitors and seriously damaged domestic industry.
In much of the 1920s, European nations were able to make their war-debt payments to the United States, and Germany and Austria were able to continue reparation payments by:
inflating their currencies.