The causes of the Great Depression in the early 20th Century are a matter of active debate among
economists, and are part of the larger debate about
economic crisis, although the common belief is that the
Great Depression was triggered by
the 1929 crash of the stock market. The specific economic events that took place during the Great Depression have been studied thoroughly: a
deflation in asset and
commodity prices, dramatic drops in demand and credit, and disruption of trade, ultimately resulting in widespread unemployment (over 13 million people were unemployed by 1932) and hence poverty. However, historians lack
consensus in determining the
causal relationship between various events and the government
economic policy in causing or ameliorating the Depression. The initial stock market crash triggered a "panic sell-off" that made the stock market go even lower.