On July 2, 1932, at the Democratic National Convention, the crowd listened intently to the phrase," I pledge you, I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people." The New Deal name was soon applied to the program of reform and recovery instituted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. During the early part of the Great Depression, the economy had ground to a halt as a result of the stock market crashing and the unemployment rates skyrocketed as businesses shut down. Only a very small portion of the population actually held stock. The cause of the Great Depression was really a result of shallow economical prosperity. Most of the farmers and other industries struggled in the 1920's. Low prices, suppressed wages and production material prices, and lopsided distribution of income all influenced the spiraling effect of the Great Depression. The relative greed of businesses in terms of profit margins and little interest in the increase of wages and positive working environments also played a role. By not making allowances for increasing wages, businesses essentially reduced the spending power of the workforce. This made the products these workers helped to produce unavailable to them. The banking industries were also involved by reacting inappropriately to economical trends right before the crash. An increase in credit flexibility might have helped reduce some of the dramatic effects of the stock market crash. The relative reduction in disposable income as well as an inflexible credit system created a dramatic reduction in spending and effectively promoted a drastic reduction in the value of the dollar. When the market crashed, all of these factors that were hidden by a general belief in permanent wealth and prosperous trends sent the economy into a tale spin. Many believed that the United States would decline into dissolution and little faith was placed with the current policies of Herbert Hoover's administration.
