The Great Contraction, 1929–1933

E363980

economic crisis historical period monetary contraction

The Great Contraction, 1929–1933, refers to the severe monetary and economic collapse at the start of the Great Depression, marked by massive bank failures, deflation, and a sharp decline in output and employment in the United States.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 canonical	3
The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 (book section)	1
The Storm (1920–1933)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3505006 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Great Contraction, 1929–1933
Context triple: [A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960, notableChapter, The Great Contraction, 1929–1933]

A. America’s Great Depression
America’s Great Depression is an influential economic history book by Murray Rothbard that analyzes the causes and policies surrounding the Great Depression from an Austrian School perspective.
B. Business Cycles in the United States of America, 1919–1932
"Business Cycles in the United States of America, 1919–1932" is an influential econometric study by Jan Tinbergen that analyzes and models U.S. economic fluctuations during the interwar period.
C. "Essays on the Great Depression"
"Essays on the Great Depression" is an influential collection of economic analyses by Gregory Mankiw examining the causes, dynamics, and policy lessons of the Great Depression.
D. Recession of 1937–1938
The Recession of 1937–1938 was a sharp economic downturn in the United States during the New Deal era, marked by renewed declines in industrial production and employment after an initial recovery from the Great Depression.
E. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 is a landmark economic study that analyzes the role of monetary policy and money supply in shaping U.S. economic cycles and major events such as the Great Depression.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Great Contraction, 1929–1933
Target entity description: The Great Contraction, 1929–1933, refers to the severe monetary and economic collapse at the start of the Great Depression, marked by massive bank failures, deflation, and a sharp decline in output and employment in the United States.

A. America’s Great Depression
America’s Great Depression is an influential economic history book by Murray Rothbard that analyzes the causes and policies surrounding the Great Depression from an Austrian School perspective.
B. Business Cycles in the United States of America, 1919–1932
"Business Cycles in the United States of America, 1919–1932" is an influential econometric study by Jan Tinbergen that analyzes and models U.S. economic fluctuations during the interwar period.
C. "Essays on the Great Depression"
"Essays on the Great Depression" is an influential collection of economic analyses by Gregory Mankiw examining the causes, dynamics, and policy lessons of the Great Depression.
D. Recession of 1937–1938
The Recession of 1937–1938 was a sharp economic downturn in the United States during the New Deal era, marked by renewed declines in industrial production and employment after an initial recovery from the Great Depression.
E. A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960
A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 is a landmark economic study that analyzes the role of monetary policy and money supply in shaping U.S. economic cycles and major events such as the Great Depression.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	economic crisis ⓘ historical period ⓘ monetary contraction ⓘ
appliesToJurisdiction	United States economy ⓘ
characterizedBy	banking crises ⓘ deflationary spiral ⓘ high unemployment ⓘ severe economic contraction ⓘ severe monetary contraction ⓘ sharp decline in output ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
describedIn	A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 ⓘ
endTime	1933 ⓘ
fieldOfStudy	economic history ⓘ macroeconomics ⓘ
followedBy	economic recovery in the mid-1930s ⓘ
hasCause	banking panics ⓘ collapse of aggregate demand ⓘ monetary policy tightening ⓘ
hasEffect	collapse of credit ⓘ collapse of international trade involving the United States ⓘ contraction of money supply in the United States ⓘ decline in consumption ⓘ decline in investment ⓘ decline in nominal GDP of the United States ⓘ decline in real GDP of the United States ⓘ deflation in the United States ⓘ falling price level ⓘ increase in real debt burdens ⓘ massive bank failures in the United States ⓘ sharp decline in industrial output ⓘ sharp rise in unemployment in the United States ⓘ wave of bank runs ⓘ widespread bank suspensions ⓘ
hasInterpretation	viewed as largely preventable by different monetary policy ⓘ
hasKeyEvent	banking panic of 1930 ⓘ banking panic of 1931 ⓘ banking panic of early 1933 ⓘ closure of banks during the 1933 banking holiday ⓘ stock market crash of 1929 ⓘ
hasPolicyContext	Federal Reserve monetary policy failures ⓘ adherence to the gold standard by the United States ⓘ
mainSubjectOf	The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 (book section) ⓘ linked to: The Great Contraction, 1929–1933
namedBy	Anna J. Schwartz ⓘ linked to: Anna Schwartz Milton Friedman ⓘ
partOf	Great Depression ⓘ
pointInTime	early phase of the Great Depression ⓘ
startTime	1929 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 → notableChapter → The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 ⓘ

Anna Schwartz → hasPublication → The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 ⓘ

Essays on the Great Depression → relatedWork → The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 ⓘ

subject linked to: "Essays on the Great Depression"

The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 → mainSubjectOf → The Great Contraction, 1929–1933 (book section) ⓘ

linked to: The Great Contraction, 1929–1933

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History → hasEpisode → The Storm (1920–1933) ⓘ