What economic policy effectively ended with the Great Depression? A - Labor unions
B - The gold standard
C - Public stock trading
D - Tariffs on imports
Answer: B - The gold standard Starting in 1879, the U.S. economy employed a monetary system in which the national currency was backed by gold. But after the bank failures of the Depression, many began hoarding gold, making the policy unsustainable. In the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt began restricting the trade, sale, and export of gold; the gold standard was officially terminated in 1971.