Herbert Hoover, ’stubbornly adhering to his own views’, signed the "Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act" almost in opposition to all Arican economists!
As those economists said, "Other countries are not wooden; they will surely retaliate against us."
The "Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act" nearly covered all exports to the United States from other countries, so every country began to retaliate.
They all started to co up with corresponding tariff acts.
Those who supported Herbert Hoover’s signing of this bill were stunned by the scene before them before they even had a chance to cheer.
"Why would these countries dare to treat the great United States like this?"
Many people couldn’t understand, "We raised tariffs because our United States is powerful, and yet you dare to raise tariffs on our goods?"
Whether or not these people understood, all the countries of the world started a trade war because of the United States’ "Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act".
Regardless of the situation abroad, even within the United States, impacts were already starting to appear.
Manufacturers, who were already unable to offset the losses caused by the financial crisis, faced with other countries raising their national tariffs.
Their goods imdiately lost all advantages.
When they were too expensive, no one would buy them!
If they couldn’t sell their goods, they couldn’t recoup the losses from the financial crisis and couldn’t repay the bank’s debts.
In such a situation, the first to react was the Arican stock market, which, after just barely calming down, was once again hit with a wave of declining.
Even newspapers couldn’t describe the current situation because they had already used terms like stock market crash and financial crisis to describe the situation last year.
The current situation was no better than it was then.
Yet, everyone didn’t know how to describe it anymore.
After the stock market plumted, the chain reaction persisted, and the businesses that had barely survived the financial crisis last year began to go bankrupt.
Those who thought they had already narrowly survived only now realized that they had rely extended their lifespans by a few months.
They also lost their jobs.
In such circumstances, even the surviving enterprises began to announce wage cuts for their workers.
In the past, when this happened, the unions would definitely lead workers to strike in protest.
But now there wasn’t a sound from the unions, because they knew it was not just about wage cuts anymore; having a job with a salary itself was already a blessing.
And so big conglorates also announced at this ti that they would temporarily halt their expansion and adopt more conservative business strategies.
All these circumstances caused the Arican economy to plunge to rock bottom.
By August 1930, more and more holess people began to appear on the streets; they lost their jobs, hos, and took to the streets, where finding a discarded cardboard box could beco their temporary shelter.
Those slightly better off sold their hos and lived with their families in a broken-down car, wherever it parked, beca their ho!
These were people who used to live a relatively good life.
As for those... the veterans from World War I, their lives were even worse.
They had already been an unstable factor in Arica, but when the nation was thriving, they could still maintain so semblance of security in their lives.
But with the downturn in the Arican economy, naturally, no one paid any attention to them anymore.
Moreover, Herbert Hoover responded by saying these people ended up like this because they didn’t work hard enough; if they worked harder, they could still earn a living!
As for the governnt’s promised subsidies to these veterans, not a word was ntioned.
"I carried a rifle for Arica and fought against the Germans; it was our sacrifice on the battlefield that brought you your wealth!"
George Monk, a World War I veteran, shouted angrily in front of a grocery store.
The grocery store owner, leaning listlessly on the door fra, said, "So what? All the benefits of the war were devoured by those big shots, and instead of going to them, you ca here looking for a job!"
"How do you know I haven’t?" George Monk shouted back; at this point, he was at a dead end. When the economy was good, he could still earn a living by doing odd jobs.
But now there weren’t even odd jobs.
Everywhere was laying people off, and people like him naturally couldn’t find work.
He had even told the grocery store owner he wanted to apply for a security job at a big company, but those damned security guards wouldn’t even let him in the gate.
By now, George Monk had completely lost his mind.
He had once participated in a parade in New York, where all the Arican people welcod them; why was it that now he couldn’t even get a job that just put food on the table?
"Then there’s nothing I can do!" the grocery store owner said dejectedly, "Now, it’s not just you; I’m almost starving too, maybe tomorrow that damned bank will co and take everything from !"
George Monk looked as if he had lost everything dear to him.
The grocery store owner, seeing George Monk’s state, looked back at his store and said to George Monk, "I still have a few cardboard boxes here; maybe they can serve as your shelter for the night!"
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