I've been reading the "History News Network" for a little while now and sometimes there are really interesting articles. This one is a great example.
There is another way to explain the Great Depression, of course. It requires looking at the changing structure or "long waves" of economic growth and development, digging all the while for the "real" rather than the merely monetary factors. This explanatory procedure focuses on "the fundamentals," and typically treats the financial system as a tertiary sector that merely registers the value of goods on offer--except when it becomes the repository of surplus capital generated elsewhere, that is, when personal savings and corporate profits cannot find productive outlets and flow instead into speculative channels.
It's worth reading, but probably only if you actually like economic theory.
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