 The panic created a credit shortage that led to a significant economic decline in the United States, turning a recession into a depression.The gold reserves of Europe were depleted and as demand for it rose, more than $150 million in gold was exported from the United States between 1882 and 1884.Beginning in 1882, the U.S. economy contracted with major available indexes such as railway revenue, coal production, imports, and domestic cotton production declining by more than 25 percent.