Print this pageHistorical Text Archive © 1990 - 2013 In 1929,
60% of all families had annual incomes of $2,000 or less; 42%
had annual incomes of less than $1,500. More efficient machines
had made it possible for the productivity of industrial workers
to increase by 32% during the 1920s, but their wages had
increased only 10%. Profits from the industrial corporations
grew 62% and went largely to the wealthiest 5%. |Year||Richest
5%||Richest 1%| The slump in automobile sales was paralleled by
the decline in the construction of new housing, causing
unemployment in the building trades. Fewer suburban houses meant
fewer markets for appliances, wall coverings, and other
activities related to home building. The economy was in trouble
but people, dazzled by a surging stock market, ignored it.
Agriculture was in a depression as farmers sold in a competitive
market while having to buy in a protective market because US
business subverted free enterprise by having the government tax
foreign manufactured goods high enoug