The Great Depression And The New Deal: Paper 3

The Great Depression and the New Deal: Paper 3

2026-11-11

Tutor Prep Guide · The Great Depression and the New Deal

The Great Depression and the New Deal: Paper 3

Ten items on calculation and historiographical judgement: unemployment counts, real debt, compound growth, elasticity and the debate on results.

Direct answers　Items 1-3: 13 million, 1,333 dollars, 42 billion. Items 4-6: 12.5 per cent, 0.25, 35.7 per cent. Items 7-9: state criteria, ignore trend and counterfactual, differing systems and aims. Item 10: about 17 per cent still unemployed in 1939.

01　Paper details (check answers afterwards)

Item	Detail
Questions	10
Suggested time	20
Difficulty mix	Foundation 3 · Intermediate 3 · Challenge 3 · Error redo 1
Chapter	Chapter: DSE History The Great Depression and the New Deal
Level	Challenge

02　Questions (10 items)

FoundationAbout one quarter of American workers were unemployed in 1932. If the labour force was 52 million, how many were out of work?
FoundationA debtor owes 1,000 dollars while prices fall 25 per cent. What is the real burden in money of the earlier price level?
FoundationA New Deal appropriation of 3 billion dollars has a multiplier of 1.4. How much output does it support?
IntermediateNational product rose from 56.4 billion dollars in 1933 to 90.4 billion in 1937. What was the compound annual growth rate?
IntermediateIn 1937 spending was cut by about 20 per cent and output fell about 5 per cent. What was the elasticity of output to spending?
IntermediateUnemployment rose from 14 per cent in 1937 to 19 per cent in 1938. What was the relative deterioration?
ChallengeOne historian calls the New Deal a lifeline for capitalism; another calls it too conservative on wealth distribution. What should an evaluation do first?
ChallengeSome argue the New Deal failed because unemployment was still high in 1939. What is weak in that reasoning?
ChallengeThe United States recovered through the New Deal and war mobilisation; Germany through public works and rearmament. What matters most in comparing them?
Error redoError clinic: “By 1939 the New Deal had fully solved unemployment.” What is wrong?

03　Answers and one-line notes

#	Answer	One-line note
1	about 13 million	52 million x 0.25 = 13 million.
2	about 1333 dollars	1,000 / 0.75 is about 1333, roughly 1.33 times the original.
3	about 42 billion dollars	30 x 1.4 = 42 billion.
4	about 12.5 per cent	Take (904 / 564) to the power one quarter then subtract one: about 0.125, or 12.5 per cent a year.
5	about 0.25	5 / 20 = 0.25: a one per cent cut in spending went with a 0.25 per cent fall in output.
6	about 35.7 per cent	(19 – 14) / 14 is about 0.357, a rise of 35.7 per cent, not 5 per cent.
7	state the criteria, then weigh the evidence	The two claims use different criteria, survival of the system versus fairness of distribution, so no comparison works without stating them.
8	it ignores the trend and the counterfactual	Unemployment fell from about 25 to about 14 per cent by 1937; without the New Deal it may have been worse, so the end point alone proves little.
9	their political systems and aims differed, so unemployment figures alone will mislead	German policy served expansion and rearmament, unlike American relief, so equal figures do not mean equal policies.
10	wrong: unemployment was still about 17 per cent in 1939	Full employment came only with wartime mobilisation; the New Deal lowered unemployment sharply but did not end it.

04　What to do after marking

After marking, redo only the wrong items and write down which step went wrong (formula, unit, or misread number).
Repeat the same item two days later; move to the next paper only when both attempts are correct.
Parents only need the answer and note columns; there is no need to explain every item.

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