a. How far was speculation responsible for the Wall Street Crash?
The 1920s saw many Americans trying to 'get rich quick' by buying shares in companies. This was called 'speculation' - gambling that the value of companies would keep increasing and so they would be able to sell shares quickly and make a profit. Many Americans were borrowing money to do this, confident that they would always be able to pay it back. However, the US economy was not as strong as the stock market seemed...