Long Depression (1873-1879)
The economic period starting with the Panic of 1873—between October 1873 and March 1879—has been called the “Long Depression.” The term :long depression” was used as early as March 1879, in the Journal of the Statistical Society:
“The long depression which began with the panics in Vienna and New York in 1873, had deepened year by year.”
“The Long Depression, 1873-1878” is a chapter title in Philip Sheldon Foner’s book, History of the Labor Movement in the United States (1947). The term “Great Depression” is usually associated with the 1930s, but it is also sometimes applied to the years of the Long Depression.
Wikipedia: Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution and the conclusion of the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great Depression, and held that title until the Great Depression of the 1930s. Though a period of general deflation and low growth began in 1873, (ending about 1896), it did not have the severe “economic retrogression [and] spectacular breakdown” of the latter Great Depression.
It was most notable in Western Europe and North America, at least in part because reliable data from the period is most readily available in those parts of the world. The United Kingdom is often considered to have been the hardest hit; during this period it lost some of its large industrial lead over the economies of Continental Europe. While it was occurring, the view was prominent that the economy of the United Kingdom had been in continuous depression from 1873 to as late as 1896 and some texts refer to the period as the Great Depression of 1873–96.
In the United States, economists typically refer to the Long Depression as the Depression of 1873–79, kicked off by the Panic of 1873, and followed by the Panic of 1893, book-ending the entire period of the wider Long Depression. The National Bureau of Economic Research dates the contraction following the panic as lasting from October 1873 to March 1879. At 65 months, it is the longest-lasting contraction identified by the NBER, eclipsing the Great Depression’s 43 months of contraction. After the panic, the economy entered a period of rapid growth, with the U.S. growing at the fastest rates ever in its history in the 1870s and 1880s.
Google Books
March 1879, Journal of the Statistical Society, pg. 276:
The long depression which began with the panics in Vienna and New York in 1873, had deepened year by year.
Google Books
July 1880, The Banker’s Magazine and Statistical Register, pg. 6:
The fall which has attracted the most attention is that in iron, and, according to some authorities, sales have been made at the lowest prices that were reached during the long depression which commenced in 1873.
Google Books
December 1884, Journal of Social Science, pg. 72:
We heard a great deal about over-production during the long depression between 1873 ami 1879, and we are hearing the same cry of over-production at the present time of depression in 1884.
Google Books
21 September 1898, The Weekly Underwriter, pg. 181:
Probably many here can remember some of the many cases of good railroad bonds selling for twenty per cent, under their value during the long depression from 1873 to 1879.
Google Books
The Bank and the Treasury
By Frederick Albert Cleveland
New York, NY: Longmans, Green, and Co.
1905
Pg. 27:
Similar to this was the period of readjustment from 1884 to 1886, after the excesses of 1879 to 1883; and still further back may be found the long depression of 1873 to 1878, after the speculative activities following the close of the War.
Google Books
10 January 1907, The Iron Trade Review, pg. 73, col. 2:
In the long depression between 1874 and 1878 there was a stagnation not only in production but in preparation to produce.
Google Books
American Railways as Investments;
A detailed and comparative analysis of all the leading railways, from the investor’s point of view
By Carl Snyder
New York, NY: Moody Corp.
1907
Pg. 187:
Since the close of the long depression of 1873-77, the North Western has steadily paid dividends both on its preferred and its common.
Google Books
Economics
By Scott Nearing, Frank Dekker Watson and C. Linn Seiler
New York, NY: Macmillan
1908
Pg. 257:
The revival of industry following the long depression of 1873-1879 began the modern development of large-scale production.
Google Books
Economic Development of the United States
By Isaac Lippincott
New York, NY: D. Appleton & Co.
1921
Pg. 478:
The first dated from the revival of business after the long depression of 1873-1879 and extended to about 1887.
Google Books
Business Recovery Following Depression
By Leonard Porter Ayres
Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Trust Company
1922
Pg. 5:
No diagram for the long depression from 1873 to 1879 has been made because monthly figures for pig iron production are not available for those early years.
Google Books
History of the Labor Movement in the United States
By Philip Sheldon Foner
New York, NY: International Publishers
1947
Pg. 439:
CHAPTER 22
The Long Depression, 1873-1878
OCLC WorldCat record
The long depression, 1865-95
Author: W B Sutch
Publisher: Wellington : Dept. of Industries and Commerce, 1957.
Edition/Format: Book : English
(This book refers to New Zealand—ed.)
MoneyControl.com
‘Depression’ back in mainstream lexicon
Published on Wed, Oct 05, 2011 at 12:20 | Source : Reuters
Updated at Wed, Oct 05, 2011 at 17:36
You know it’s grim when the prevailing debate among economists and historians is whether the world economy faces the “Great” depression of the 1930s or the “Long” depression of the 1870s.