 TITLE: What Is the Difference Between a Recession and a Depression? CONTENT: What Can Cause a Depression?\n----------------------------\nThe Great Depression is the only modern example of a depression, so it's hard to say generally what could lead to one in modern times. But looking back at this period can be informative.\nThe Great Depression didn't happen overnight: Several factors came together to create a perfect storm that devastated the economy. Like other recessions, it began with a decline in spending, manufacturing and construction, but experts believe a glut in housing inventory, higher federal interest rates, problems with the gold standard, and overpriced stocks pushed it into something deeper.\nThe official start of the Great Depression is typically considered to be the massive stock market crash of 1929. As panicked consumers and businesses rushed to get their money out of banks, many banks ran out of money. Nearly half of U.S banks had failed by 1933 as a result, leaving a vast number of Americans without the money they thought was safely stashed away for the future.\nTo help Americans recover and hopefully prevent the next depression, big changes were made. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was created to protect deposit accounts and the Securities and Exchange Commission was set up to regulate the stock market. Some experts credit the increased industrial production required for World War II as a major factor in ending the Great Depression. END