The provided text offers a comprehensive analysis of the Great Depression, detailing its complex origins and catastrophic progression. It begins by describing the fragile economic conditions of the "Roaring Twenties," highlighting deep structural weaknesses like wealth inequality and a debt-fueled consumer culture, despite overall prosperity. The source then explains how the Wall Street Crash of 1929 served as the immediate trigger, shattering public confidence and erasing immense wealth. Crucially, the text emphasizes that the subsequent transformation of a severe recession into a prolonged depression was largely due to the Federal Reserve's failure to prevent widespread banking panics and the resulting collapse of the money supply. Finally, it outlines how disastrous government policies, such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, and the ecological disaster of the Dust Bowl compounded the crisis, deepening human suffering and transmitting the economic downturn globally.

Research done with the help of artificial intelligence, and presented by two AI-generated hosts.