Discuss the political and economic causes of the Great Depression in the Americas.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the political and economic causes of the Great Depression in the Americas. There may be very different approaches to this question as candidates may choose to discuss one country in depth or offer a broader discussion of the Americas. Although candidates are expected to refer to political and economic causes, there does not need to be an equal focus on each. For political causes, candidates may refer to laissez-faire policies or the influence of the US on Latin American governments, which limited the development of national industries. For economic causes, they may discuss the financial speculation that led to the Wall Street Crash, arguing that, before 1929, sources of financing for Latin America were limited as funds were drawn into the US for speculative reasons. Candidates may also discuss overproduction, the decline of international prices and/or the exhaustion of primary export economies and the shrinking of domestic markets.