The deflation meant that if you owed money (like for a mortgage on the
> farm or house), it was harder to pay it since you had to work so much
> harder to get a dollar than in the past -- the dollar was worth more.
> We're used to inflation where the dollar declines and that benefits > borrowers.
And that -- together with similar deflationary cycles every few decades in the 19th century -- was one of the source of the notion that it is inherently evil to be in debt, which is still reverberating among some personal money management gurus. The Great Depression was the last deflationary cycle because we fundamentally changed the way the money supply is controlled. Going back to the gold standard, as some people advocate, would bring back the deflationary cycles.