Question

John Maynard Keynes wrote that the depression was “not a crisis of poverty, but a crisis of abundance.” What does this mean in reference to the Great Depression?

There was a great deal of supplies but the poor and needy couldn’t get those goods.

There was an abundance of jobs but poor people couldn’t get to them.

The Great Depression was actually a problem for a few poor people who refused to work because there was an abundance of opportunities available.

Answer 1

There was a great deal of supplies but the poor and needy couldn't get those goods.
While there were more goods, thanks to the development of industrialism, available than in decades and centuries previous, the public's general access to these goods was substantially restricted.

Answer 2

The answer is There was a great deal of supplies but the poor and needy couldn’t get those goods.
During the Great Depression, people in higher economic bracket is actually do not necessarily need to change their lifestyle because they had to simply cut down their employees in order to maintain certain level of profit.
Due to lack of jobs, the group that suffers the most during the depression because they need to struggle to fulfill their daily needs while other part of society is living in abundance.