The end of October marks the 80th anniversary of the Great Depression in the United States. This crash was not a one day affair, but began on Tuesday October 22, 1929 and built up momentum over the week that followed.

The Great Depression began on Black Tuesday with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement. Although its causes are still uncertain and controversial, the net effect was a sudden and general loss of confidence in the economic future. The usual explanations include numerous factors, especially high consumer debt, ill-regulated markets that permitted malfeasance by banks and investors, cutbacks in foreign trade, lack of high-growth new industries, and growing wealth inequality, all interacting to create a downward economic spiral of reduced spending, falling confidence, and lowered production.

Coney Island 20 years later ...

My parents used to tell me stories about how bad things were during the depression when they were in their late teens, moving into their 20's, needing work. My father was the fifth of 10 children living on the lower east side of Manhattan. My mother had lost her father when she was a child and her mother struggled to support two children. As an empath, I could sense the pain and suffering their families had to endure during those years. My parents would meet in 1934, as the economy was recovering, yet the scars of those times remained with my father for decades, as they did with many of his generation who had nothing, yet went on to build careers.

My mother, Florence (Leo, 1910-1979), (psychic, artist, and writer), once told me about a man she was engaged to marry before she met my father. His name was also Murray. He was a successful Wall Street broker who jumped out of a window and killed himself when the depression took hold. My Mom finished college, worked in an office, then after I was born, remained at home the rest of her life. It took her 9 years to give birth to me, after many miscarriages and being told she would never have a child ... but she knew better ... and knew who I was. She talked to Z, sketched pictures of him, did automatic writing with him, and allowed him to guide us to the Nevada desert in 1954, as my destiny was set in motion. Florence ... flower, flower of life ... married a Crystal.

My father, Murray (Sagittarius, 1910-1984) finished City College and worked in the corporate world for many years as an accountant. But, as with many other corporate types today, he wanted to follow his dream and went back to school for fashion. He had the flair for the creative and wound up as head pattern maker for the largest mens' clothing manufacturer in the city. Though becoming successful, and generous with the family, the Great Depression left a scar on his soul.

And then there was the war in Europe as both sides lost members of their families in Nazi Germany. But that's another blog and my book 2012 Sarah and Alexander where Hitler didn't die, but moved .....

Alleged Hitler's skull remains was that of a woman   PhysOrg - September 29, 2009

September 29, 2008 ...

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 777 points after the House defeated, 228-205, a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation's financial system, leaving both parties and the Bush administration scrambling to pick up the pieces. The recession was under way.

And so we wonder ... When will the economy recovery and what changes will be set in place as a result of the current recession and how businesses are run? What have we learned in 80 years? The market will rise again - even higher but what's behind the scenes?