eems certain that the 5 per cent of the population with highest incomes in that year received approximately one third of all personal income" (Galbraith p.182). At this time, businesses were making tremendous profits, but workers would only receive a small share of the gain. This meant that the economy would be dependent on high level investments and luxury consumer spending. The rich had all the purchasing power.
             Another cause of the depression was the bad banking structure. The banking system was made up of large numbers of independent banks which made the system weak. After the stock market crash, many investors went to banks to demand their savings, but the banks did not have their money. This caused other Americans to panic and demand their savings from the banks. So as one bank failed, it led to all the other banks to fall. The banking system nearly buckled with more than 5,000 banks falling by 1933, leaving millions of Americans with no savings.
             The decline of Europe's demand of U.S. goods affected the wealth of the nation a great deal. After WWI, the United States became a creditor to Europe. In the 1920's, the U.S. had a surplus of exports over imports. The U.S. economy strived in the 1920's from Europe importing many American goods, but after the Great Crash, President Hoover raised tariffs on exports. Therefore, Europe defaulted on their loans from the U.S. and declined their imports of American goods. This affected the wealth of the nation but significantly hurt the American farmers.
             Finally, the last cause of the depression was buying on margin. Many Americans believed that
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