What effect of the great depression is described in the song, “brother, can you spare a dime? ” the expanded government regulations used to control banking practices led to abuses in power and a financial collapse. the stock market crash of 1929 caused extensive losses in financial wealth for individuals in various branches of society. due to a lesser demand for food, the production of agricultural goods diminished and farmers struggled to keep their farms. the men who had built and fed the nation and fought in world war i were abandoned and struggling to survive.