Walton and Rockoff on page 418 write: "It is utterly remarkable, even in hindsight, that an economic catastrophe of such magnitude could have occurred." The Great Depression was a monumental event. It altered the discipline of economics because it was unable to resolve the situation and it altered the market-based policies within the economy. The authors in this chapter review three central questions that scholars are debating: What caused the unprecedented collapse in the economy? Why did the economy remain depressed for so long? How can a repetition be avoided?