Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

During the Great Depression, as agricultural prices fell, farmers' incomes declined sharply. To compensate for lower prices, farmers tried to expand production and bring a larger volume of produce to the market in order to maintain their overall income.

The unintended consequence was that this increased supply worsened the glut in the market, pushing prices down even further. Instead of recovering their income, farmers found that farm produce rotted for a lack of buyers, deepening the crisis rather than solving it.

Source: Chapter 3, Section 3.4 – The Great Depression

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• The key economic concept here is a vicious cycle: falling prices → more production → more supply → prices fall further.
• Examiners expect you to clearly state why farmers increased production (to maintain income) and what happened as a result (glut worsened, prices fell further, produce rotted).
• For 3 marks: 1 mark for the reason, 1 mark for the consequence, 1 mark for the linking effect (prices fell even further / produce rotted). Keep it concise and use textbook language like "glut" and "agricultural incomes declined."