When analyzing the table that shows the rates of decline in industrial production for various countries during the Great Depression, let's list out the values:
- United States: 46.8%
- Great Britain: 16.2%
- Germany: 41.8%
- France: 31.3%
- Sweden: 10.3%
Now, let's evaluate each potential conclusion based on these rates:
1. Sweden did not depend on industrial production:
- Sweden's rate of decline is 10.3%, which is significantly lower than the other countries listed. This suggests that industrial production was not as critical to Sweden's economy, as the decline is much less severe.
2. Sweden's economy was less stable than most:
- This conclusion seems less likely given that Sweden experienced the smallest decline in industrial production among the countries listed. A smaller decline indicates more stability, not less.
3. Sweden and Great Britain had similar economies:
- The rate of decline for Great Britain is 16.2%, which is significantly higher than Sweden's 10.3%. These figures suggest that the declines are not similar enough to conclude that the economies were similar.
4. Sweden had a lower unemployment rate than the United States:
- While it's plausible that lower industrial decline could correlate with a lower unemployment rate, the given data only provides information about industrial decline, not unemployment rates specifically. Therefore, this conclusion isn’t directly supported by the given data.
Given these evaluations and focusing on the provided rates of decline, the most likely conclusion about Sweden is:
Sweden did not depend on industrial production.
This is because Sweden had the smallest rate of decline in industrial production during the Great Depression compared to the other countries.
