Today in History: The Great Stock Market Crash of 1929 (United States)

The stock market crash of 1929 – considered the worst economic event in world history – began on Thursday, October 24, 1929, with skittish investors trading a record 12.9 million shares. On October 28, dubbed “Black Monday,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 13 percent. The market fell another 12 percent the next day, “Black Tuesday.” While the crisis send shock waves across the financial world, there were numerous signs that a stock market crash was coming. What exactly caused the crash – and could it have been prevented?
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Most economists agree that several, compounding factors led to the stock market crash of 1929.
A soaring, overheated economy that was destined to one day fall likely played a large role. Equally relevant issues, such as overpriced shares, public panic, rising bank loans, an agriculture crisis, higher interest rates and a cynical press added to the disarray.
Many investors and ordinary people lost their entire savings, while numerous banks and companies went bankrupt.
While historians sometimes debate whether the stock market crash of 1929 directly caused the Great Depression, there’s no doubt that it greatly affected the American economy for many years.

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