You’re right. The Great Depression has been described as ‘want in the midst or plenty.’
Thanks for the post. I had heard that description before, but had forgotten it.
The only thing missing was green paper, or equivalent. The resources are here, the will to work is here, etc. Some towns tried to surmount the government-created barrier to efficient commerce by issuing wooden money.
That’s how my dad explained it, the farmers had food in the fields but too many people couldn’t afford it so it rotted there while people went hungry.
The problem is with the extreme cost of farming nowadays it will take exactly one growing season of that scenario to break them.