Answer:
On Thursday, October 24, 1929, stock prices began to fall on the New York Stock Exchange, losing 11% of their value in a single day. After some initial stabilization, news of the falling stock prices led lenders to call on investors to repay loans. A massive sell-off began, causing the market to lose even more ground and setting off a panic across the country. By mid-November, the value of the nation's stocks had fallen by 33%.Banks which had lent money to failed investors or businesses simply no longer had the cash on hand to pay their customers. The average citizen, frightened and pessimistic about his or her economic prospects, stopped buying non-essential goods; spending dropped by 20% in 1930. This, in turn, drove down demand for consumer goods and more businesses began to fail. Unemployment rates doubled. Individual households were bankrupted as banks and lenders called in outstanding loans. President Herbert Hoover directed his administration to reduce spending.