As WW1 Ended, the US and the Rest of the world went into a major Recession. In the US this lasted till 1921, enough time to get a Republican. Prior to WW1 the US had been a net debtor nation, we owned money money then people owed us. WWI changed that and the US became a net Creditor Nation, and remain so till Reagan. Now the US quickly came out of the Recession of the early 1920s and entered the 1920 boom period. The problem was the rest of the world did NOT. Germany would have its inflationary period in the mid-1920s as it tried to pay its obligations under the Versailles Treaty AND provide Government Services, but Britain and France were NOT that much better off (Britain even having to CUT the wages of its Servicemen to balance the Budget in the mid-1920s, which lead ot a Mutiny in the British Fleet).
Thus the Boom of the Roaring 20s was only in the US. The first sign that the boom was bad was in 1927 when Rural American went into a recession. Hoover was elected in 1928 (more do to the Democrats picking a Wall Street Favorite, Al Smith, a anti-prohibition Catholic from the Tammany Hall machine of New York City to run against the Man who help feed Europe at the End of WWII). The Stock Market peaked in the Summer of 1929, and suffered its Crash in October 1929, but almost fully recovered from that Crash by March 1930. In was following March 1930 that the Depression took hold, as one bank after another either failed, or just closed up do to a lack of currency (Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh was the last bank open in the US but it even had to close before FDR was installed in office on March 4, 1933. The "Sucker Rally" that went from October 1929 till March 1930 took out most of the investors who had survived the October Crash. This contraction lasted from August 1929 till March 1933, 43 months (The Second longest in Duration, the longest being 1873-1879, Considered by most people the worse decade prior to the Great Depression, it lasted 65 months).
In many ways we are in the period like August 1929 till March 1930, things are declining, but not that bad. The Stock Market crash had been bad, but that had been mostly made good by March 1930. Things were looking down, but no great problems YET. Then the slow decline of March 1930 till March 1933. That was a killer. The 1929 Crash is considered only the FOURTH worse Crash in US History, but it was followed in 1932 by the WORSE CRASH EVER. What Connects these two? The slow decline in the Stock Market that started in March 1930.
List of US Recession:
http://www.nber.org/cycles.htmlWorst US Recession, 1932:
http://mutualfunds.about.com/cs/history/p/crash1.htmNow if you notice the Recession of 1929 consists of both the 1929 and 1932 Stock Market Crashes. The Economy did NOT start up till FDR closed down ALL banks for a "Bank Holiday" and then opened them up with Federal Protection for investors (Basically what we now call FDIC insurance). This one, two punch made sure the US would NOT fully recover till 1954 (In Dollar terms that was done by 1937, but in 1929 Gold was $20 to an ounce, in 1937 it was $35 an ounce, thus you will hear people use the 1937 date because Dollar for Dollar 1937 equaled 1929, but if you use 1929 constant Dollars it is not till 1954 that the US Stock Market equals 1929).
Another recession kicked in in 1938, but that was the end of the depression, things were no longer stagnating, as it had been from 1933-1938 but things were on the upswing.
Thus it looks more and more we are facing a 1929-1933 type recession, a long hard recession followed by a stagnant recovery (and what recovery we will see will be Government provided). I agree we are NOT in a post-March 1930 period, but we are in the 1937-1930 period when things look bad, but will get worse before thing get better. Major disruptions in people's lives will occur, people will want solutions to their economic situations, solutions good and bad. If you looked forward from 1929, you saw the rest of the world already in a Major Depression and the US following them, and given the great heights he US economy had been in the mid to late 1920s, full sign that the fall will be great, but the extent is unknown.
This is where Americans are comparing today's economy with the Great Depression, not the results of the recession that occurred 1929-1933, but looking forward to that recession knowing it will be great.