Chapter : 1. The Making of a Global World
India and the Great Depression
India and the Great Depression :
(i) The depression immediately affected Indian trade. India's exports and imports nearly halved between 1928 and 1934. As international prices crashed, prices in India also plunged.
(ii) Peasants and farmers suffered more than urban dwellers. Peasants producing for the world market were the worst hit. Peasants who borrowed in the hope of better times or to increase output in the hope of higher income face ever lower prices, and fell deeper and deeper into debt.
(iii) In these depression years, India became an exporter of precious metals, notably gold. This certainly helped speed up Britain's recovery, but did little for the India peasant.
(iv) The depression proved less grim for urban India. Because of falling prices, those with fixed incomes - say town-dwelling landowners who received rents and middle-class salaried employees - now found themselves better off.
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